Save me
by fallenangel860
Summary: Shilo feels like she can't go on after the genetic opera. Will she ever be able to move on or is she destined to be alone? Maybe Graverobber can help her find a way, or maybe she'll end up being the one to save him.
1. Chapter 1

**Save Me**

Shilo curled up in the corner of the crypt and hugged her bag to her chest. It had only been a week since the genetic opera, since the day everything she had ever had was so violently taken from her. During the time between then and now she hadn't once been back to the large empty house that had once been a home. She couldn't bring herself to walk its halls or seek out its rooms, to see the shadow of her father's memory in his favorite arm chair, to feel him by her bedside whispering to her in her sleep only to look and find the emptiness. No, she had gotten into the limo that night, after everything she'd loved had died away, and been brought back to that dark house. She stood outside for only a moment before the realization of her loneliness fully impacted her. She ran down the street, still covered in her father's blood, until she found herself lost in an alley. She'd collapsed underneath a rusty fire escape and cried as a fine rain began to fall and wash the blood from her skin. She cried herself to sleep that night in that alley with the rain falling down on her, trying to wash away the horrors that had played out in the opera house that night to no avail.

By some miracle no one had bothered her in the night and when she awoke she was drenched and cold, but otherwise unharmed. She had stumbled through the streets in a daze that next day. She was numb. She didn't eat, didn't bother to try to wash herself up or make herself presentable. She had just kept walking until she'd found herself in the only familiar place she'd known besides her father's house, the graveyard. She'd sequestered herself in her mother's tomb ever since, leaving only to steal a bite of food here or there when the hunger pains got too unbearable.

GeneCo hadn't failed immediately after Rotti died as everyone had thought it would, nor had the Largo's killed each other to claim the throne. Instead, Amber had installed herself as the head of the company and things were going on very much the same as they always had. Outside of her corner of the world people were still paying for genetic perfection and having their debts forcefully squared away, graverobber's were still to be executed on sight and buying Zydrate from unlicensed dealers was still illegal. To the whole of the world outside it was as if the genetic opera hadn't happened. It was as though hundreds of people hadn't watched Mag dig out her eyes and then be impaled on stage, as if Rotti hadn't killed Nathan and left Shilo an orphan. Beyond her mother's crypt, the world still turned and went about its business.

Shilo didn't even know what had happened to her father's body. She assumed that it had been thrown in one of the mass crypts among hundreds of other bodies to rot. Shilo didn't like to think about it. She certainly didn't like to think that perhaps the Graverobber had found him and restocked his zydrate supplies. She simply curled up in the corner of her mothers crypt hugging her bag to her chest and willed her thoughts to go away, to abandon her to the unquiet darkness of sleep. Slowly, she began to drift off into a fitful semiconscious state.

She was jarred out of her uneasy dreams by the sound of wood scraping on stone. She bolted upright and pushed herself farther into the corner. A tall figure quickly ducked inside of the crypt and slammed the door shut. He leaned with his back against the door and watched through the window as searchlights raked past. When the lights had passed he leaned his head back and sighed in relief. Long light brown hair fell past his shoulders streaked through with wild colors. Shilo started in recognition. At the same time the intruder noticed her pressed into the corner. "Kid? Is that you?" Shilo took a step forward out of the shadows.

"Yeah. What are you doing here?" It seemed strange to Shilo that the man she had only met one week ago for a single night seemed always to find himself with her. He raised an eyebrow at her and held up his empty Zydrate syringe. "Just stocking up on some supplies kid. What's your excuse. You pretty much dropped off the radar after the opera. Seems no one could find you to ask about your father."

Shilo took another step closer, "My father? What about my father?"

"Nevermind, it's too late now it doesn't matter."

Shilo closed the gap between them and grabbed Graverobber's coat. "Please, tell me, what about my father?"

"They needed to know what to do with the body, but it's too late now. He's one crypt over with all the others, part of the jackpot."

Shilo let go of him and backed away horrified. She shook her head. "NO! You didn't!..... You....."

"Relax kid, he didn't feel a thing." Shilo couldn't breathe. Her legs gave way beneath her and she sagged to the ground sobbing. Graverobber wasn't sure what he should do. Part of him wanted to just leave the girl to her own misery and part of him wanted to help her. It was a joke really. Who had he ever helped in his entire life? He destroyed lives, he didn't fix them. Still, he found himself kneeling beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. She was so tiny, so fragile she felt as though she'd break if he so much as squeezed her. He leaned closer to her and could smell the odor of musty earth and death clinging to her skin. She'd obviously been spending too much time hiding in crypts, she was beginning to smell like the dead... like him. "If it wasn't me kid, it would have been someone else, or something. Nothing lasts in this world. You're just gonna have to learn to deal with that."

His words were cold but rang warm with truth. He wasn't the only graverobber. If it hadn't been him to do the deed, then almost surely someone else would have found the body and drained it of it's Zydrate. Still, Shilo was disgusted by what he'd just admitted. Anger welled up inside of her at what he'd done. "You bastard!" She shoved him away from her as hard as she could. He lost his balance and fell onto his back. The vials of Zydrate in his bag and on his hips rattled. One slipped free and rolled across the floor before bumping into Shilo. She looked at the glowing blue vial in front of her and reached out for it. With lightning fast reflexes Graverobber snatched the vial before she could pick it up. She looked up at him. He was back on his feet making his way to the door of the crypt. "Where are you going?" She shouted. A thought had just occurred to her. Perhaps she couldn't erase the memories of the past week, but maybe she could dull the ache.

"I'm going on my way. You'd obviously rather be left alone and I have work to do, people to see." He turned away from her once again and reached for the door.

"Wait!" He stopped dead in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder at her sitting on the floor. She looked pathetic sitting in the filth of the crypt tears staining her pale hollow cheeks. "I need it.... please," she whispered.

He turned to her and looked at the vial in his hand He held it up, "This?" She only nodded. Graverobber smiled that cocky crooked smile of his and chuckled. "I don't think so kid." He began to turn from her again.

"Please!" She demanded, "you owe me! After what you did you owe me!"

"Sorry kid, I don't owe you anything," he said without turning to face her.

"He was my father," she pleaded. "And you did it anyway. It's mine by right. I need it. First hits free, right?"

Graverobber clutched the vial in his gloved hand and inhaled deeply. "Sorry kid, not this time. Nothing is free." With that he left her alone in the dark dankness of the tomb. Shilo fell forward and pounded the hard stone floor in front of her with her fist. It wasn't fair. He couldn't just leave her. He should have given her the Zydrate. She deserved it, she needed it more than anyone. She needed to not feel. She slumped forward and buried her face in the crook of her arm and cried and cried.

*********

Graverobber had found himself back in the alleyway, reclining in the dumpster. His corner of the world as it were. The Zydrate whores had come and gone, filled his pockets with credits, given him a little carnal relief. Now he could relax. Just sit back and think. The kid had looked pathetic. She obviously hadn't had much to eat in the last week. She'd been covered in graveyard dirt and grime, hadn't seen a shower since the opera. Something about the sight of her that way bothered him. He wasn't sure why. He saw equally pathetic visages everyday. Girls that one could assume had once been vibrant with life, perhaps even pretty, reduced to shadows of themselves walking around in a daze without really feeling anything because of the drugs in their systems... the drugs that he sold them. Girls that wouldn't think twice about dropping to their knees in front of him in order to get that next hit when they didn't have the credits to pay. But had he ever really known them before they'd gotten that way? Graverobber struggled to remember. In the end all the faces looked the same, he laughed at the thought. All the faces looked the same because they were different, the faces, the bodies, ever changing. The only constant was that drug induced stupor that they seemed always to be in. The kid was different. When he first saw her she'd been... alive. There was no other word for it. She could feel. She'd been scared, and rebellious.... and innocent. Her innocence stood out in his mind. Some part of him, buried deep in his mind, liked that part of her most. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but her innocence reached out to him and he could not, would not help her corrupt it. There had been a time when he wouldn't have thought twice about it. He'd almost given her the Zydrate the last time they'd met. She'd wanted a cure and he'd just wanted to be cut down from his trap. He'd been out of Z then, but he'd given her the extracting needle. She'd almost done it too. He'd almost coaxed her to smack the needle in, until she'd realized that the corpse on the floor had been her mother. Now he was thankful that she'd run. He didn't want he to end up like the others. A part of him, a dark part, liked her. A customer stumbled over. "You're too late I'm all out," he said without bothering to look up. The customer stumbled away and he reached into a pocket and removed a small glowing vial. He looked at it and turned it this way and that. He knew he should just sell it. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd kept it for so long in the first place. It was they very vial Shilo had asked him for. The last part of her father that was left. He certainly wasn't going to give it to the girl, that was for sure, but he supposed that he had known the girl would be wanting it. He jumped out of the dumpster and sauntered out of the alley in the direction that his last customer had left. He loaded the vial into his Zydrate gun and laid a hand on the customer's shoulder. The boy turned around and, seeing the Zydrate gun, shoved a handful of credits into the Graverobbers open palm. He pressed the gun to the boy's neck and watched as the glowing blue Zydrate emptied into him. He shoved the empty gun back into his bag and stalked off down the street toward the cemetery.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Shilo had fallen into a deep sleep hours ago. Her rest was plagued with nightmares of her father's death and haunting images of her mother and Mag. She never heard the crypt door as it scraped open. About and hour later she tiredly sat up and rubbed her eyes. The first thing that met her sight was Graverobber sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, One long lean leg stretched out in front of him the other pulled in close so that his knee was practically touching his chest. An arm was draped over his knee wile the other sat limply in his lap. He was looking at her. Shilo wondered how long he'd been there, how long he'd been watching her. His bag of Zydrate equipment lay on the floor on the other side of him, empty vials lined his holsters. He looked over at her. "You should be more careful, anyone could just waltz right in here you know."

She glared at him. "Anyone? You mean like you?"

He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "There are worse things out there than me kid. Things that wouldn't think twice about hurting a pretty little thing like you."

She shifted and crossed her legs beneath her. "Don't think I don't know that? I'd say I know more about the monsters in the world than most people. Why are you here anyway?" She asked. "Did you change your mind?" She added hopefully.

He cocked his head and smiled his crooked smile. "I came back to see if you were still here. I thought that maybe if you were desperate enough I could have a little fun with you." He leaned toward her. "So what do you say? Want to play a game?" There was a wicked gleam in his eye.

Shilo slapped him across the face. "You're disgusting. Did you really think that would work with me? I'm not your fucking Amber."

Graverobber rubbed the side of his face with one gloved hand and smirked. "Can't blame me for trying. And She is NOT _my_ Amber." The tone in his voice said it all. Annoyance mixed will disgust mixed with a hint of anger.

"Really? You two looked pretty close to me. Didn't _she _used to do you favors when she needed the glow?"

"That was before. She owns GeneCo now. All the Zydrate she could want and no one to answer to for it. Besides, she was poison. Got under your skin in a bad way. She's worse than the Z."

"If she's so horrible then why'd you bother with her?"

"Simple kid, I needed her at the time. She was my best customer and an easy fuck, not to mention she was probably part of the reason the genecops never really bothered with me." Graverobber grimaced. Amber did have that going for her. As long as her father was alive he'd called the genecops off whenever they'd cornered him so he wouldn't have to listen to Amber whine. Now that Amber was in charge and didn't need him anymore he had to be more careful.

"Not very picky then, are you? So do you have it, the Zydrate?"

He leaned his head back against the wall. "I'm out."

"We're in a graveyard, we could get some."

"And if I did that, what's in it for me?"

"I can get some money. Please, just help me. I need it to help me forget." She stood up and moved closer to him.

"I can't kid. It doesn't work like that. It's not the cure you seem to think it is." Shilo made a grab for his bag. She was fast, but he was faster. He grabbed her wrist in his vice-like grip and yanked her forward to her knees. They hit the stone hard and she winced at the impact. There would be bruises, she was sure. He grabbed her other wrist and pulled her close. " I. Said. No. Bad things happen to girls like you. You want a cure, fine, but we'll do things my way." He was hurting her. Her wrists were sore from him squeezing too hard. She tried to pull away, but didn't have the strength in her malnourished limbs to escape his grasp.

She didn't seem to have a choice. She stopped struggling and collapsed into his arms. "Fine, we'll do things your way." Graverobber let her lie there and regain her strength. He raked his gaze over her prostrate form. She was even more pale then she had been that first night they met and she had lost at least a few pounds. Her once sleek black wig was now tangled and rather than sitting perfectly on her head it was slightly askew. He let his eyes wander around the crypt. It looked the same as any other crypt he'd been in. It was dark save for what little light leaked through its windows. There were several torches on the walls that hadn't been lit in days. The floor was cold and covered in layers of dust and dirt and an occasional candy bar wrapper. The smell of decay was everywhere, not that it particularly bothered him, but he knew that he had to get her out of this place. She couldn't go on living with the dead. Even he never went that far. He might wander among them on a nightly basis, but he'd never gone so far as to sequester himself with them. It wasn't healthy and she was living proof of that. She was rotting away like a corpse, granted a beautiful one at that. He could still see her the way she was that first night. Even then there had been a voice deep inside of him that said he wanted to taste her. He shuddered and shoved the though from his mind. Still, he wanted her like that. He didn't want only memories of what she'd been. She stirred and weakly pushed herself away from him.

He stood up and looked at her. She shivered. The night was on the cool side and she was still wearing only the little black dress she had on when she'd left the opera. He sighed and shrugged off his coat and covered her with it. "When was the last time you ate?" She looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't go out very much. I had some candy bars." He looked at the empty wrappers on the floor. "So I've noticed. Well you're going to have to eat something."

"I'm fine. I'm not hungry," she lied.

"You haven't eaten in days, I can see it, and you can barely stand. Besides, you want the Glow don't you?" He teased. "Can't have it on an empty stomach. My rules, remember." She wasn't the only one that lied. With that he grabbed up his bag and left her alone again and set out to scrounge up something to eat.

Shilo pulled his coat tighter around herself. She didn't like being left alone. She'd been as alone as was humanly possible for a week now and that was enough for her. As much as he infuriated her, as disgusting and obscene he could be, she liked Graverobber's company. He was blunt and straightforward. He had no reason to lie to her. Sometimes she even thought he was amusing. And just now, when he'd let her lie in his arms, she'd felt safe and comfortable. She didn't like the thought, but she liked having him around... maybe even liked him. She buried her face into the faux fur collar of the coat and inhaled deeply. It smelled of graveyard dirt and death... and him. She curled up beneath its warmth, hugged it tight, and drifted off into the sweetest dreams she had had in the last week.

Graverobber jumped out of the back of the garbage truck as it neared the alley where he set up shop. Within minutes he'd sold the Zydrate that he'd collected on his way out of the cemetery and he was slinking through the shadows and sneaking into shoppes grabbing a few things off the shelves here and there, perhaps dipping into a garbage bin or dumpster that usually had some good throw aways in it before once again hopping a truck headed towards Cemetery no.31. He stepped off at the gate and, careful not to see spotted by the searchlights and the genecops on patrol, made his way back to where he had left the girl. She was asleep again. He knelt beside her and gently shook her shoulder. She grimaced and cracked open an eye. She sat up, the coat slipping slightly. She shrugged it back into place and pulled her knees to her chest. Graverobber rummaged through his bag and pulled out a couple of sandwiches and a can of coke. He held one out to Shilo. She took it from him tentatively and began to nibble on it. Graverobber sat down next to her and began to tear into his own sandwich. Shilo hadn't eaten anything substantial in so long that she savored every bite. Graverobber had already finished his sandwich and was pulling another out of his bag when she was still only halfway through. He picked up the can of coke, popped the tab, and handed it to her. She took it and gulped half the can in one sip. She didn't realize that she'd been so hungry, or thirsty for that matter. Graverobber finished his second sandwich and watched with amusement as she finished her own and drained the last of the coke. There was a spot of mustard clinging to the corner of her mouth. He cupped the side of her face in his hand and wiped it away with his thumb. He let his hand linger for just a moment while he looked into her eyes before breaking the contact and digging around in his bag once more.

The gesture made Shilo shiver. His hand was warm and rough, his touch was gentle. She relished in the feeling that the simple gesture gave her. It stirred something deep inside of her, a feeling that she had thought was lost forever. He made her feel..... loved. No, that couldn't be it. It was obscene to even think that he, that a man of his character, could love. Even if he could she rationalized, it wouldn't be her. There were far better people for someone like him to love. He had taken pity on her. That was all. He would play the hero for a while and lead her around until the fun of the game wore off for him. She watched as he pulled a second can from the bag and took a deep swig. He didn't even notice that she was staring at him. She should stop that, she realized. The way she was thinking right now, it was as if she had some school girl crush on the guy. It was pathetic, she thought, that she should care about a man that was definitely older than her, a man that didn't really care if she was there or not, a man she knew nothing about. Once he'd had his fun with her he'd give her the drug and be on his way again and she'd only see him when she needed a hookup, of that she was sure.

Graverobber could see the girl staring at him out of the corner of his eye. He ignored it. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. He set the can down and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He looked at her. "Still hungry?"

Shilo shook her head. In truth, she'd grown so used to not eating that the little bit he'd given her had filled her. She was sure that if she ate any more she would throw up. "I'm good. Thank you."

The gleam came back to his eye. "I bet you are." He couldn't help but tease her. In a way, it made being near her easier. Besides, he couldn't help himself. It was a flaw in his character he supposed.

Shilo eyed him suspiciously. He'd found her, denied her Zydrate, left her alone, come back, made passes at her, and brought her food. She wasn't sure of the game he was playing anymore. She still figures he was amusing himself with her, but she wasn't sure where the game was headed anymore. Regardless of his bad boy exterior, he didn't seem like the kind of man that intended to hurt her. He'd made some passes, sure, but as far as Shilo could tell he'd been joking. Besides, if that was all he'd wanted from her he could've taken it and been gone already. She was in no condition to put up a fight right now. And even if he did just want a warm body there were more than enough girls in the back alley's willing to give it to him. He had her dangling on the end of a string and she didn't like it. She wished she could read into what he was thinking, but the pale made up face of the Graverobber betrayed nothing to his thoughts.

Suddenly Graverobber was on his feet. "Come on, it's time to go."

Shilo was confused. Go where? She looked up at him questioningly. "Are you giving me my cure now?"

"Not yet, now get up."

"Shilo looked at him defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere. You're playing games with me."

Graverobber rolled his eyes impatiently. "It's almost morning and it's time for me to call it a night. Besides, you shouldn't be sleeping with the dead, people will talk," even now he felt the need to add in his perverted humor. The look she gave him could kill. "Come on. The genecops don't search tombs often but if they do and they find you in here they'll shoot first and ask questions later. You can't keep hiding in here. Eventually either the genecops will mistake you for a graverobber or a graverobber will end up mistaking you for a corpse and either way you end up becoming a permanent resident." Shilo had a hard time arguing with that. She knew that it was probably true. He reached out and pulled her to her feet. She lost her balance and fell into him before regaining her composure and steadying herself. The coat had slipped from her shoulders and fell to the floor. Graverobber picked it up and shook the dust off before slipping into it once more.

He began to walk toward the back of the crypt to the passage that led to Shilo's house when She grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"

"The house still belongs to you. Its a better place for you to stay than here. It would be safer too."

She let go and stood her ground. "I- I can't. I can't go back there, not yet. I'm not ready. There has to be somewhere else."

"If you have a better idea then by all means lets hear it. If not, then I suggest we go back there." He took a step toward her. "You'll have to go back sometime, and you will never be ready. Best to get it over with." He turned away and began to push at the door that opened to the tunnel.

She took a step back. "No, I can't. I can go with you, wherever you're going."

"No you aren't. You go home or you stay here, those are your options."

"If there's nowhere else to go then I'm staying here."

Graverobber stopped what he was doing and sighed. "Suit yourself," he told her. He walked to the crypt door and bowed to her. "Best of luck. Be careful. You're beautiful, wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Before she could respond he had yanked the door open and disappeared from sight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Would he come back? She wasn't sure. He'd come back what? Twice now? Three times? But what if he gave up on her? She couldn't risk being alone right now. Better to have a friend that she didn't quite trust than nothing at all. After all, the people she had trusted and known in her life hadn't ended up being who she thought they were so what was the difference in trusting a stranger. She peeked out of the door in time to see him disappear behind a tombstone. 'Where is he going,' she wondered to herself. In that moment she decided to follow him. She wouldn't let him know she was there, but she had to know where he was going. Quietly she left the tomb and followed him. Every once in a while he'd pause to look around for genecops before continuing on. She followed him rather easily through the cemetery without being noticed. Once they reached the cemetery gates and entered the city it was a different story. Graverobber didn't hide himself here. He kept to the shadows, but he didn't worry about being caught here. Although Shilo kept her distance and he didn't bother to look back there was little Shilo could have done to hide if he had decided to. He weaved his way through the city darting down back alley's and venturing deeper and deeper into the seedy side of the city. After a half ab hour of following at a distance and ducking behind the nearest trash bin or dumpster whenever it seemed Graverobber was going to turnaround and catch her tailing him, he disappeared into a boarded up building. The building was old and in obvious disrepair. The boards on the window that he had crawled through were weathered and gray with age. She stood in the dark outside of the broken window debating whether or not she should follow him in when he stuck his head out of the hole.

"Are you coming in or are you just going to stand there?" He asked impatiently. He disappeared inside once again and after a seconds hesitation Shilo tentatively followed his lead. Inside, the building was dark and dank. It smelled of mold and dirt and stale air. Faint moonlight streamed through cracks in the boards covering the windows to reveal broken crates and newspapers that littered the floor. A metal drum sat in the middle of the space. Paint peeled from the walls. The ceiling was cracked and plaster had fallen off in chunks.

She moved slowly, straining to see against the dull light so she wouldn't trip over the clutter that Graverobber seemed to avoid effortlessly. "How long have you known I was there?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Since the graveyard. You think it usually takes a half an hour for me to get here? Why did you think I took so many back alleys and turns? I was hoping I'd lose you. I don't like people following me"Shilo's face turned red with embarrassment. Thankfully the darkness hid the blood that rushed to her pale cheeks. She followed Graverobber around a corner and up a rickety flight of stairs that creaked and groaned with every step. Shilo started with every moan of the wood beneath her feet. She feared that the steps would crumble beneath her. Grave robber went down the hall and disappeared into a room whose door was dangling from a single hinge. She followed shyly and was surprised by what she saw. On the floor in a corner was a filthy mattress covered in moth eaten rags. Stuffing poked out from holes in the mattress and a spring hung hazardously out of a tear in one corner. There were more rags and worn blankets piled in the far corner of the room. The dark wallpaper was stained and hung from the walls in strips. A pair of tattered curtains hung from the boarded up window. A chair sat in a corner beside a plastic milk crate with a bowl of water and a rag on it. He shrugged off his coat and tool kit slung them over the back of the chair and began unfastening his holsters and setting each piece delicately on the seat, careful not to crack the fragile glass vials. Shilo was shocked. "What.... is this place?"

Graverobber paused and looked at her shocked expression. "I call it home." And with that he began stripping off his shirt. Shilo clutched the strap to her bag til her knuckles turned white. She felt like an intruder. She didn't belong here. This was meant to be a private place, a sanctuary, and she knew it. He placed his shirt on top of the pile of zydrate vials and holsters and the gun and dipped the rag into the water. He wiped the make up off of his face and turned to Shilo. She was stunned. He was leaner and more muscular than she'd thought he would be. His body had been honed by years of running from the law and fighting to survive. She quickly averted her gaze, embarrassed that she found him at all attractive. The fact that he was standing in front of her half naked didn't seem to bother him at all.

She looked around the room again avoiding meeting his gaze. "This is where you live?" Curiosity tainted her words.

"Is that really so hard to believe?"

She thought about it for a split second. No, she couldn't imagine him living in a normal house like a normal person. She hadn't ever really thought about someone like him having a place to call home. People like him were just a given in life. They appeared at night and conducted their seedy underground businesses and illegal trades and disappeared with the morning. "But, the Zydrate," she said questioningly, "you must make a killing selling it. Why live here?"

He leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why not? I make my money, but this is far more interesting than living like a rich prick isn't it? Besides, I like it. It's quiet, or at least it used to be. I'm not really big on visitors."

She looked at the floor ashamedly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have followed you but...."_but what? But I was afraid you wouldn't come back? But I didn't want to be alone? But I need you? _There was nothing she could honestly say that he wouldn't use against her, but what could she tell him? There didn't seem to be a good enough excuse to follow a man whose help had already been outright refused. "I'm sorry. I'll go. I shouldn't be here."

She began to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You can stay, but you're gonna owe me."

A chill crept down her spine. What was that supposed to mean? She should leave right now. Just go back the way she came and forget about him, but she didn't. There was a part of her that trusted him. Just a tiny little part that knew he wouldn't hurt her.... she hoped. She faced him. "Thank you." It was then she noticed the scar on his side. Not very noticeable, just a thin white line on the right side of his body that curved from the very bottom of his ribcage to his hip. Without thinking she reached out and traced the line with her finger tips. The feel of her skin against his sent a shock through Graverobbers body. He stored the feeling in the back of his mind. A sense memory locked away and not soon forgotten. Something he could reflect on later. "You've had surgery?" She asked.

He gave her that half cocked grin of his. "Nope. I am one hundred percent genuine. Pure unadulterated me. What about you? Organ transplant? Face lift? Liposuction? Boob job?" His eyes lingered on her chest for a moment at this before he once again smiled and began throwing blankets around on the mattress, seemingly in some random fashion that she was sure was either his way of getting out of an uncomfortable topic, or to try to make what could only loosely be called a bed something you could actually sleep on.

"Never," was all she said. "But that scar...."

He finished arranging the "bed" and sat on the edge to take his boots off. He tossed them casually aside and laid down with his arms behind his head. "I don't exactly lead a glamorous life, kid. What I do is dangerous and I have the scars to prove it," he paused and smirked, "would you like to see?" Shilo just rolled her eyes at his obscene humor, she'd gotten used to it by now. He shrugged. "Suit yourself." When she didn't move he gave her an expectant stare. "You might as well make yourself at home." She dropped her bag in the corner and scanned the sparsely furnished room. "You can come over here and lie down you know, I won't bite... much." She weighed her options and decided to decline his offer. She went over to the pile of rags in the corner and made herself a nest in the middle of them. He watched her with amusement as she curled up in the middle of them. The sight of her nestled there made him smile. He rolled over on his side and faced the wall. He wanted her to be lying beside him. He had always assumed that she'd never been touched by the scalpel, but these days you could never be sure. That fact more than any other made his blood hot. He wanted her more than ever. He just wanted to hold her in his arms, to feel true flesh beneath his fingers. He wanted to kiss her and taste her unmarred, untouched skin. It had been so long since he'd felt something real. Amber, the rest of the junkies that gave themselves to him in alley's, they were all plastic and designer parts. He could feel the difference. They tasted like ashes, shadows of reality. Superficially perfect and unreal. Everyone was so fake now that he'd forgotten what it felt like to have real skin on his own. He closed his eyes and imagined running his hands over every inch of perfectly imperfect skin. He pulled a blanket over himself and slipped into uneasy dreams.

Shilo lay awake as the sun rose, seeping weak blueish light through the cracked boards on the lone window. She rearranged the rags in which she was curled and turned constantly trying to get comfortable. She didn't understand, she'd spent the last week of her life sleeping on stone without even a blanket to cover herself with and now she was having trouble sleeping. It was a miracle that she hadn't frozen to death. As it was she had a slight cough, but that was nothing to complain about. Still, why couldn't she sleep now? It was as though she'd been oblivious to the cold or discomfort in the her mothers tomb. Now she could feel the drafts where the wind leaked through broken glass and weathered wood. She felt cold and uncomfortable and alone. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because at least in the graveyard she had been with her mother. No, that was a lie too. Her mother's body had been taken from there long ago. There was nothing comfortable here, nothing she knew, except Graverobber. She looked at him sleeping across the room. His hair spread over his toned bare back. The thin hole covered blanket that he had been covered with was now twisted around him and she wondered how he could possibly be comfortable. She weighed her situation in her head. She was cold and lonely and, though she hated to admit it, scared of what would happen to her if Graverobber tired of having her around. She wished she knew what went on in his head. Why was he keeping her around, what did he really want from her? What would he do if he didn't get whatever it was that he was after? She wasn't even thinking of the drug anymore. Things didn't seem so bad as long as she had someone. She didn't feel as alone in the world with Graverobber there, even if he mocked her and had a twisted perverted sense of humor. He was honest with her. That alone was more important than anything else. She been lied to for so long that his blunt honesty was comforting. She got up and tiptoed over to the rotten mattress where he lay in a deep sleep. As gently as she could, she curled up next to him on the lumpy cushion. She buried her face in his long hair and pressed her body close to his so that she felt his skin on hers. She drifted into peaceful sleep as his warmth seeped into her frozen bones.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Graverobber shifted in his sleep. He dreamed that he was holding her in his arms, that she snuggled against him and returned his kisses and caresses. He moaned in his sleep from the rapture of his dream and turned over yet again. Sleepily, he opened his eyes and started as he appraised the situation. It hadn't been a dream, at least, not entirely. There she was, curled up against him, pressed close. Her face was buried in his chest, her arm curled limply around his waist. He reached out to her and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. His finger trailed down the curvature of her cheek and he stared at her lips. "You're beautiful, " he whispered. With that he carefully extricated himself from her arms and left.

Shilo stretched and sat up in a panic. The cold was back and Graverobber was gone. His shirt and coat were no longer on the chair and, while the holsters and vials remained, his tool kit, and Z gun were gone. The sight of his holsters reassured her. It seemed unlikely that he would have left them if he wasn't planning on coming back. Still, where had he gone and why? She strained to listen for a moment. The building was silent. The only sound that reached her ears was the whistle of the wind through the cracks. She laid back down on the empty bed and imagined that she could still feel him beside her. She tugged the blanket that he had used up to her chin and inhaled deeply. She succumbed to sleep still smelling the combination of sweat and grave dirt that clung to it, scents that were distinctly his.

It was still early. The sun had just begun to set and paint the sky as Graverobber walked the streets to clear his mind. Even the brisk air couldn't drive the heat away. Her scent clung to him. He couldn't force the feel of her holding him from his mind. The thought drove him mad and made him hard. In his dreams he could taste her. He wanted her so badly, but she was just a kid. Not that there was anyone that would care about that anymore. Still, even he had morals. He shouldn't want her. Hell, it was against the law to want her, not that he'd ever really been a law abiding citizen in the first place. He battled with his own thoughts and feelings. She was alone as he was. She trusted him. It was obvious. If all she had really wanted was the Zydrate then there were easier ways to get it, other people to get it from. Instead of taking the easy way out, she'd followed him like a puppy and bent to his whims. Was it really so wrong then, he reasoned, to want her if she wanted him too? She was probably awake at this very moment wondering where he was and if he would come back.

The thought played in his mind and made him smile. Maybe he wouldn't go back, he thought. Perhaps he should just stay away, before things got even more complicated for him. He couldn't do that though. He knew. Besides, he'd left his holsters. He would have to go back to get them; and once he saw her again he wouldn't be able to leave her. He wandered into a small store and picked up a couple of sandwiches wrapped in cellophane. He dropped them onto the counter and fished a few credits from his pocket. For the first time in ages he found himself actually paying for something other than a beer. He laughed inwardly at himself and grabbed a bag of chips and a soda from the rack and added them to the sandwiches. He took the paper sack and left the shop. He stopped in another shop a block away and grabbed a beer before making his way back to Shilo.

Shilo slept fitfully. She tossed and turned and woke up every few minutes since she'd discovered Graverobber gone. She'd finally given up trying and just lay there with the blanket pulled up to her chin inhaling the heady scent. She closed her eyes and pretended that she could still feel him with her. She recalled how warm he'd been. His skin had been soft and smooth beneath her hand. She imagined laying her cheek against his bare chest and having him hold her. It was no more than a daydream, but if she concentrated hard enough, it felt almost real.

She pushed the thought from her mind. It was nothing but a girlish dream, and hadn't she learned by now that there was no sense in girlish dreaming? As she lay there she heard a floorboard creak. She sat up and hugged the blanket to her. She hoped that it was Graverobber. Her hopes were confirmed when he sauntered in the doorway holding a paper bag.

He sagged onto the bed and began rummaging through the bag. He pulled out a sandwich and handed the bag to Shilo. She dug into the bag to find a second sandwich, a bag of chips, and a can of soda. Graverobber leaned back against the wall propped one boot clad foot on the bed. He picked the beer can out of his pocket and popped the tab. He took a bite of his sandwich and washed it down with a big swig from the can. He didn't bother to look at her. "Eat up kid."

Shilo didn't need to be told twice. Her appetite was returning and she dug into the food. Graverobber finished his first and went over to where he'd left his holsters. He took off his coat and removed the tool bag that he had strapped on underneath. He dug through a pocket cleverly hidden in the lining of the coat and pulled out the missing Zydrate gun. He secured it in its own holster and it and the Zydrate holsters to his thighs. Shilo leaned back on her hands and studied him. Not once did he look at her as he adjusted the thigh straps. He pulled his coat back on and slung his tool kit over his shoulder so that it rested comfortably on his back. He bent down and picked up a shard of mirror that Shilo hadn't noticed before. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a jar of white face paint and began applying it to his face. He wiped his hand on the rag by the wash bowl and pulled out a tube of black lipstick which he applied obvious practice. When he was done he replaced the shard, pulled on his gloves and left.

Shilo didn't follow him this time. Instead, she waited sat around and waited for him to come back. She used the time to explore the rest of the house. She pulled a flashlight out of her bag and began to poke into the corners and crevasses of the rooms. She didn't find much. Scraps of newspapers, a few wanted posters with Graverobber's face printed on them, more rags, and some trash. Shilo was slightly disappointed. She'd been hoping to find something a little more personal. She stuffed one of the wanted posters in her backpack and trudged disappointedly back to the room and waited for him to return.

Graverobber snuck around between the headstones being careful to keep out of the searchlights and made his way to the mass crypt. He was guaranteed to find something there without hardly having to lift a finger. Fresh corpses were dumped inside on a near nightly basis. He crouched behind a headstone as a guard walked past with his gun raised and quickly scurried to the next as soon as the guard had passed behind a nearby mausoleum. He made it to the crypt without being noticed and entered though a hole in the wall. The smell in the crypt was suffocating. Graverobber had learned early on to block it out and breathe through his mouth so that it wouldn't overwhelm him while he worked. He made his way among the sea of bodies until he came upon a good looking corpse.

Quickly and with the skill he'd mastered over the years, he slung his tool kit off of his back, removed the extractor and filled a vial within a few seconds. He stashed the vial in the holster and moved on to another body. Within the course of an hour he had collected around 10 vials. Not a bad haul for the night, especially since each vial held around 4 doses minimum. Some of the stronger stuff was more like 8 doses, but there wasn't much for quality tonight. The older the corpse the weaker the Zydrate. The more tainted a body was with drugs, and disease, the weaker the glow it gave off. It was a good thing that the impurities in a body didn't pass into the Zydrate or Graverobber would have a lot less buyers. Not that they cared about quality specifically, but that most of them would probably be dead. Still, just because they didn't care about quality didn't mean that Graverobber didn't.

The stronger and more pure the Z was the more he could sell it for, the more addicting it was too not to mention less dangerous. Tomorrow he'd make a trip to the cat house on Asylum St. and have Kitty fill him in on where the fresh graves were. Most of the cities cemeteries were filled with defaulted financees and junkies that couldn't pay for a real burial. When you can't pay, you end up in the trash and dumped in a place like this. Only the rich bastards ever got real burials anymore. And if you really had money you even got to go the whole six feet under. Digging up graves and breaking into heavily guarded tombs and mausoleums was a hell of a lot more work than scouring this place, but every so often he did it for the good stuff. Every so often he needed a change of scenery and a bit more of a challenge. He finished up and hit the street headed to his turf in Sanitarium Square.

The fresh Z sold out quick. Graverobber dropped a handful of credits into his pocket and listened to the satisfying clink they made when they hit each other. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and sauntered off down the street. Without even realizing it, his feet brought him, not to the run down building that he called home, but to Shilo's doorstep. He looked at the house. He'd seen it before. Hell, he'd been inside it's walls. It had looked depressing then when it housed only secrets and girl too frail to leave. Now that it's secrets were out and the little girl was gone it looked downright haunted. Before he knew it he was climbing over the gate and opening the front door. He wandered aimlessly through the house until he found himself in Shilo's room. Her bug collections and clothes were scattered over the floor. Her dresser stood open. He eyed it mischievously. He went over and ran his fingers over the rumpled clothing spilling out of it. Rumpled clothes hung out of the drawer. He pulled out a skirt. It was tiny. It'd be a miracle if it made it past her mid thigh. His mouth twisted into an evil smile. He stuffed the skirt in his bag and pulled out a shirt and jacket and added them to the collection as well and started to turn. He stopped. With the wicked grin still plastered on his face he returned his attention to the disheveled clothes. He began to rifle through them until he found what he was looking for. He added some stockings, a bra, and a pair of underwear to the bag. After a minute of silent debate he stuffed an extra pair of panties in a hidden pocket.

He took another quick look around, found nothing worth more than a moment of his attention and left the room. He stopped in the kitchen and poked through the cabinets for anything that might prove edible. There wasn't much, a few packages of instant noodles, but that was it. He grabbed those too and added them to his already bulging bag. On his way out of the house a glint of silver caught his eye. He made his way to the mantle and picked up a small oval picture frame. The silver filigree frame held a single grainy black and white picture of a much younger Nathan cradling a baby Shilo in his arms. The picture disappeared and he once again stole into the night.

Shilo was sleeping when Graverobber crept almost silently into the room. She was curled up on the bare mattress with the blanket clutched to her chest like a teddy bear. Without a sound, Graverobber removed his gear and laid it down like he always did. He wiped the makeup from his face and took off his boots. He made his way over to Shilo and watched her as she slept. Though it was far from freezing there was still a chill in the air. She shivered slightly in her sleep. Ignoring his better judgment, Graverobber lowered himself onto the mattress next to Shilo taking care not to wake her. He got comfortable and pulled her against his chest chasing the goosebumps away and fell asleep with her wrapped in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Shilo ran frantically trying to get away. They were hot on her trail and there didn't seem to be any escape. Luigi and Pavi were catching up fast and she was terrified. Amber stalked down the street behind them at a distance, her two muscular valets at her side as always. Shilo kept glancing behind as she raced down the street. She could see the glint of a knife, a crazed smile. She didn't know why they wanted her, but she knew that if they caught up with her it would be the end. It was getting hard to breathe. As she stumbled past the opening to an alley a pair of hands grabbed her..._

Shilo tried to move in her semi-conscious state only to find that her arms were pinned. Her eyes immediately snapped open in fear. She began to twist in an effort to escape her captor. By the time she realized that it was just a dream and that the man holding her was only a very startled Graverobber, the damage had been done. **  
**Shilo's frantic movements had awakened the half naked Zydrate king who had been sleeping quite soundly with his arms around her. Before, he could react, she had begun to thrash about and whipped her head around inadvertently hitting him in the face in the process. Graverobber's hand flew to his face and he half rolled, half fell off the bed. Shilo spun around and looked at him. He leaned on one elbow on the floor where he'd landed and wiped a smear of blood from his lip. There was a slight cut on his lip and more blood dripped from his nose and ran down his chin and onto his bare chest. He gave her a confused look and stumbled to his feet. Shilo's eyes widened in shock and her jaw hung open in horror at what she'd done. Graverobber glared at her and picked a rag off the floor and began wiping the blood from his face. "I think maybe it's time for you to go kid."

Shilo's eyes widened even more, this time in fear. "No, please. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it."

"Look, you're starting to be more trouble than you're worth."

"Please believe me, I didn't know. I had a bad dream, I'm sorry"

"I'm not playing around. You don't belong here," he sounded bitter and yet, there was a hesitant quality to his voice, as though he were saying the words against his will.

Tears began to well in Shilo's eyes. "Please, it was an accident. It won't happen again. Please don't make me leave. I don't have anywhere to go. I don't know what to do." Her voice wavered as she begged and the tears finally cascaded down her cheeks.

He shot her an annoyed glance. "You have more than most. You have a home to go to. You'll be fine. You'll figure things out eventually." He turned his back to her and dipped the rag in some water and continued to wipe at the blood. He couldn't look at her while she was crying. The sound of it made his cold heart want to break. He was right though, it was time for her to go. She would just hold him up. He couldn't do his job and be worrying about her all the time, it didn't work that way. He was a graverobber, graverobbers worked alone, they didn't have families or girlfriends, or even friends for that matter. They worked alone and when they needed a little something extra, well, that was where girls like Amber came in. A quick fuck in some rotten alley that he knew wasn't about to stick around. And she did have a lot more than most of the people he saw in a night. She'd be fine and he'd be fine... if only he could get her to leave, if only he could walk away from her.

"Please," her voice was barely above a whisper. "Please don't send me back there," her voice cracked. "I can't go back there.... I'll do anything."Graverobber glanced over his shoulder at her. She was sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her face was buried in her hands and she was oblivious to the fact that her panties were peeking out from underneath her dress. Seeing her like that sent a shiver down his spine and aroused him more then it should have. He looked away again and closed his eyes tightly until the feeling had passed. With her looking so pathetic, and yet so hot, he couldn't kick her to the curb.

He faced her once more. "Anything?" The tinge of playful perversion was back in his voice. He looked at her with hungry eyes.

Shilo looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. The look in his eyes made her shrink back. "You don't mean... you don't want...."

"You said anything." She eyed him worriedly. He rolled his eyes. "Don't worry kid, I'll be nice. You can stay for now, but remember.... my rules." He grinned, causing the cut on his lip to reopen. "I'm going to hold you to that though. One of these days I'm going to collect on that promise." He licked the fresh blood from his lip and pulled his shirt from the pile on the chair.

At first Shilo couldn't speak. She was digging herself into a hole and she knew it. She was so afraid of being left alone again that she was selling her soul to a man that she knew nothing about other than the fact that he was a criminal, a drug dealer, and completely amoral. It wasn't the smartest thing of her to do. What would she do when it came time to pay her debts? Still, she was too grateful that he wasn't going to throw her out in the cold that she jumped from the bed and threw her arms around him.

He stumbled backward from the force of her surprise hug. Unsure what exactly to do, he awkwardly patted her on the back and pulled away to put his shirt on. He went to the corner of the room where Shilo's bag sat on the floor and picked it up. He unzipped it and dumped out the few contents that Shilo had in it. A tin can, bug book, and a bottle of pills fell to the floor. He loaded the empty backpack with his holsters and Z-gun. "Come on, lets go," he said throwing her the bag.

Shilo just barely caught it. She looked at him questioningly. "Where are we going?"

He looked at her with a cocky half grin. "Look kid, you might be cute, but you'd be a whole lot cuter if you got cleaned up a bit. Besides, you're starting to smell a little ripe." Shilo glanced downward at her disheveled self and turned red with embarrassment. She wanted to comment that she couldn't possibly smell any worse than a man who made it his business to play with the dead on a nightly basis, but she knew he was right. He strapped on his bag and grabbed his coat from the chair. "Follow me kid, and try not to attract attention." He didn't put the coat on, but instead carried it over one shoulder. Shilo shrugged her bag over her shoulder and followed Graverobber through the house to the window with the loose boards that served as an entrance. He peeked his head out and looked up and down the street. Satisfied that they wouldn't be noticed he crawled out and offered Shilo a hand.

Something about Graverobber bothered Shilo, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was. She followed silently at his heels for more than a block before it dawned on her. He hadn't bothered to apply his face paint. She wondered about that, and about the fact that he had chosen to store some of his more important property in her bag instead of strapping it all on as he had every time she'd seen him. He'd left his gear the night before too. Shilo wasn't sure what to make of it. She quickened her footsteps so that she was walking alongside him. He seemed oblivious to her. He never slowed and his eyes seemed to be constantly scanning the crowds and the streets. Shilo cleared her throat. He gave her a quick glance and continued on his way. Gathering up her courage, Shilo spoke. "You're not wearing your make up." Graverobber was surprised by her sudden interruption, though he didn't even bat an eyelash. He looked down at her and away again without a word. "Why is that? Every time I've seen you up til now you've had your face painted up and you wore all your gear and stuff."

Graverobber didn't break stride as he answered her. "Graverobbers will be executed on sight, remember?" He asked. "The face paint and the gear are tools of the trade, not something I want to advertise during the day."

Shilo pressed her lips into a thin line and said nothing as they made their way through the city to Asylum St. Graverobber stopped in front of a seedy looking, run down building. There was a red light out front next to a sign with the words The Cat House printed on it. Shilo looked at the building uncertainly. She glanced warily around and spotted several less than savory looking figures lurking in the shadows. Graverobber rapped his knuckles on the door. It opened a crack and a face peeked out. Techno music drifted into the alley. The man in the doorway looked at Graverobber and held a hand out expectantly. Graverobber dropped a few credits into the waiting palm and pushed past the bouncer with Shilo at his heels. She could feel the doorman leering at her and shivered in disgust. Graverobber carefully picked his way through the club to the bar. It was not the kind of place Shilo should be. At the front of the club girls in varying states of dress swung from stripper poles as men and women watched eagerly. The girls draped themselves over the men, and the occasional woman, and danced suggestively for the money that they slipped mindlessly into their waiting hands. Shilo watched as one of the girls took the customer she had been dancing for by the hand and led him through a door at the rear of the club.

Shilo looked away from the debauched scene at the front of the club and sidled closer to Graverobber. He smiled his wolfish smile and leaned over the bar. One of the attractive young women tending bar made her way over. He said something that Shilo couldn't hear to her and the woman laughed and poured a glass of beer. She set the glass in front of Graverobber and, throwing a look at Shilo, asked him something that was drowned out by the music. Graverobber smiled and shook his head. The woman shrugged before leaving the bar and disappearing through the door at the side of the stage. Graverobber leaned on the bar and downed half the glass in a single gulp. He emptied the glass as the woman came back through the door and motioned them to follow. Behind the door was a hallway that led, no doubt, to the dressing room for the girls on stage and a stairway leading to the second floor of the building. She led them up the stairs. Shilo followed behind Graverobber as close as she could. Shilo felt a twinge of jealousy toward the woman. She was sure that, at this very moment, he was staring at her ass as she led the way to a room near the end of the hall on the upper floor.

The club on the main floor took up only a small portion of the overall building and the top floor was proof. There were twenty or so rooms, some with their doors open, others shut tightly with do not disturb placards on the knobs. The woman stopped in front of a room whose door stood open. She nodded toward the door and smiled seductively before slipping wordlessly past Graverobber. She brushed against him on her way past. He watched her go and Shilo felt a spark of hatred toward her. He stood outside of the room and gestured for Shilo to go in. She stepped into the room and wrinkled her nose at the drab interior. The room was remarkably empty. A king sized bed covered in well worn linens sat in the center of the room. There was a small night stand beside it with a lamp and clock on it and a floor lamp stood on the other side of the bed. A trash can half full with refuse sat under the night table. A door on the opposite side of the room opened into a small bathroom. There was a single bare window at the far side of the room that overlooked the alley below. Graverobber followed her in and shut the door. Dull club music throbbed up through the floor. The walls weren't half as thick as they should have been and the moaning from some of the occupied rooms leaked in. Graverobber strolled across the room toward the bed and plopped down. "Why don't you go and get cleaned up a bit," he said indicating a tiny bathroom on the far wall.

Shilo looked at the bathroom. It looked dingy, but it had been a long time since she'd had a nice hot shower. She dropped her bag next to the bathroom door and hesitantly stepped inside and flipped the light switch. The room was filled with bright light and she found that she had to blink rapidly to regain her sight. She glanced at Graverobber lounging on the bed before slipping into the bathroom and shutting the door. The space was small and cramped. A towel sat on the tiny sink. Shilo peeked behind the off white shower curtain and was happy to see that it was relatively clean. She turned the knob and the shower sputtered to life. She turned back to the door and locked it before stripping and stepping cautiously into the stream of hot water. She took off her wig and let the water flow over it before setting it aside. She leaned against the back of the shower stall and closed her eyes.

The water battered her face and body as she thought about the night she had defied her father and left the protection of his house. For the first time she let the events of that night wash over her. She reflected on the horrible truth of her mothers death, her fathers deception, Mag's murder, and cried.

The lies she'd been told all of her life stung, but now she understood why her father had deceived her. The world inside her bedroom was bliss compared to the cruel uncaring world that she had watched for so long with envy. She no longer blamed her father for his actions and she wished she could have had the time to get to know the man beyond the mask he'd put on for her sake. As she allowed the memories and harsh realities flow over her the pain that came with them seemed to lessen. It seemed almost as if it was washed away with the water. She stirred herself from her thoughts and picked up a bar of soap and washed off.

She turned the shower off and stepped out feeling like a new person. She toweled off and rearranged her damp wig on her head. She looked at her discarded clothes and grimaced in her mind. She felt so good and clean that she wished she'd packed an extra set of clothes in her bag when she'd left for the opera. But she hadn't and her options now were to either put on the dress she'd worn for over a week without washing, or to walk out dressed in the towel and hope that maybe Graverobber would be courteous enough not to stare and make rude remarks and get her something to wear. She picked up the dress and slipped it on. She knew Graverobber enough to know that rude comments were one of his specialties. She adjusted her wig and smoothed out her dress as much as she could before going out to face Graverobber.

He was sitting in the window staring down into the alley when she stepped out of the bathroom. He heard the lock click and the door open on squeaky hinges and turned around. She was still in the dirty rag that she'd been wearing for much too long now, yet she looked... perfect. Her shoulders were wet from her wig and her skin glistened. Graverobber got up from where he was sitting. "Take that off." Shilo was taken aback by his blunt instruction. She was about to protest but before she knew it he was standing before her, hands on her hips. He leaned in close and inhaled deeply. Her scent mingled with the smell of the soap she'd used. Shilo was stunned into silence. It was hard for her to think with Graverobber so close. She didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to reach out to him, wanted him to hold her, kiss her, do whatever he wanted to her. The more sensible part of her wanted to slap her silly for even entertaining such thoughts. It screamed at her to get away now because she couldn't trust him, but the torrent of emotions drowned it out.

Graverobber's hands slid down to her thighs and he smiled slyly. The smile made Shilo melt. "You know, you'd look much better without this rag on." As he spoke he began to push the dress torturously up her thighs, over her hips and stomach before letting it fall back into place. A sudden unexpected sigh escaped her lips causing Graverobber's Cheshire cat grin to widen. He caressed the side of her face while his free hand snaked up behind her and unzipped her dress allowing it to fall to the floor. He gazed at her, with the slightest twinge of guilt mingled with his arousal, letting her standing there wearing nothing but a dirty pair of underwear with her dress at her feet.

Shilo gasped as the dress fell free. The reality of the situation hit her full force then. The voice that she'd pushed to the back of her mind broke through then. She pushed Graverobber away and struggled to cover herself. She bent down to grab her dress from the floor when she was startled by Graverobber's laughter. She clutched the dress in front of her in a vain attempt at modesty. Graverobber continued to chuckle as he sifted through his bag and pulled out a dark long sleeved cropped jacket, a white shirt that was see through lace from the high collar to the bust line, a black miniskirt, a pair of thigh high stockings, and a frilly pair of panties, and a matching bra and handed them to Shilo. She grabbed them indignantly when she recognized them as hers. She stormed into the bathroom and got dressed. All the while she fumed silently at the knowledge that Graverobber had been in her house, her room, poking through her underwear.

Graverobber leaned against the wall and let his head fall back. He took a few quick deep breaths and let himself calm down and regain his composure. He almost had her. The thought both tantalized and unnerved him. He'd lost his cool. The idea of being with her no longer made him stop and think, but he'd only planned to bring her here to get a hot shower and a good meal. Instead, he'd lost his control and that bothered him most. If anything were to happen, it would happen on his terms, not on impulse. A knock on the door roused him from his thoughts.

Shilo wasted no time in peeling off her old panties and stuffing them in the trash bin. She pulled on her clean under things, still slightly fuming that Graverobber had been in her room. What else had he touched? What else had he touched and rifled through? She pulled on her stockings. Odd, she was more angry with him for going through her things than she was about anything else. She wasn't even mad at him for, for what? For taking advantage of her? Could she really say that he had? She'd let him do it after all. She could deny it all she wanted, but she knew that deep down she wanted him to touch her, to kiss her at the very least. He was the only man she'd ever really known and from the time she'd first set eyes on him in the graveyard she'd found him both attractive and disturbingly scary. She liked him. She couldn't deny that anymore, but she could at least show a little more self-control. She scolded herself mentally for letting her hormones get the best of her. She pulled the shirt on and buttoned it at the neck and slipped into the skirt only to discover that it was one of her older ones. It must have been given to her before her growth spurt because, although she could still zip it up, it barely covered her. Her embarrassment at Graverobber having seen her nearly naked, and her anger at him having gone through her things, was replaced by annoyance. He'd probably brought her the too small skirt on purpose. She pulled it down as far as it would go on her hips and smoothed it out. She didn't bother to put on the jacket, but slung it over her arm, pulled on her shoes and stepped back into the room.

The sight that greeted her was not what she'd expected. Graverobber leaned a shoulder against the wall by the door with his back to her. A cart had been wheeled into the room by the girl from the bar. She smiled flirtatiously at Graverobber and twirled a finger in his hair. He leaned close to her and whispered something that Shilo couldn't hear. The woman looked over his shoulder at Shilo and scowled before turning on her too high heels and storming out the door.

Graverobber turned and looked Shilo up and down. He grinned in approval. "Well kid, I got to admit, I was liking the way you looked a few minutes ago a whole lot, but this isn't too bad either." Shilo's face turned red and she pulled nervously at the hem of the skirt, wishing once again that it were longer. Graverobber noticed her nervousness and chuckled. "Take it easy kid. I thought we'd have a nice hot meal for once," he said gesturing to the cart. "Then maybe later if you want you can help me clean up a little." There was an unmistakable gleam in his eye.

Shilo raised her eyebrows. "I don't think so."

Graverobber shrugged it off. "Suit yourself," he said grabbing a beer and a styrofoam container off of the cart and heading toward the bed. "But it's a whole lot more fun when you have company." He glanced back at her and grinned as he flipped open the container lid and picked up a french fry. "Grab the ketchup will ya?" With that he popped the fry into his mouth. Shilo picked up the bottle of ketchup and tossed it to Graverobber. Shilo took her own carton of food from the cart and a can of soda and sat at the foot of the bed. Graverobber couldn't help but let his eyes wander over her as she nibbled on her food. Before long he'd finished and tossed his empty container in the trash and set the ketchup bottle on the stand. He opened the door and called out down the hall.

Shilo continued to munch on her food, grateful to finally have something more substantial than sandwiches for a change. She eyed Graverobber with curiosity. Within a few seconds one of the girls from the club, not the girl that had been so furiously trying to flirt with Graverobber, Shilo was relieved to see, had entered the room and was standing by the door. While she waited Graverobber removed his coat and tossed it carelessly onto the bed. He then proceeded to take of his shirt, scarf, and began unfastening his pants. Shilo nearly choked on her food. "What are you doing?" She shrieked.

He rolled his eyes at her. "I don't happen to have a house full of clothes to change into Kid." Shilo was relieved when he went into the bathroom and shut the door. He came out a minute later with a towel around his waist and his pants and socks balled up in his arms. He added his shirt to the pile and handed it to the girl at the door. She took the bundle of clothes and left, closing the door behind her. Graverobber made his way to the bathroom and stood in the doorway. Shilo couldn't help but stare at him. He looked good standing there, wearing nothing but a towel, silhouetted by the light streaming out of the bathroom. "You know, the offers still there if you want to join me," he said.

"Uh, I don't think...."

"Don't think, just..."

"Stop it! I- I mean, I can't... just...."

"Calm down kid, I'm just teasing." He moved toward her and stroked her cheek tenderly. "I won't make you do anything you don't want to. But, I'll leave the door unlocked. In case you change your mind." With that he disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door.


	6. Chapter 6

_I forgot to mention this in the previous chapters, but I do not own REPO or any of its charaters. That privilege belongs to Terrance Zdunich and Darren Smith_

**Chapter 6**

Graverobber stood under the cold stream of water. He braced one hand on the wall and rubbed the back of his neck. He was tense. He still had a major hard on and he kept wishing that the girl would open the door and join him. It was a strange thought for him to have. There were always times when he was frustrated. When that happened there was always a girl like Amber, some sexy little thing looking for a hit but low on cash. And even if there wasn't, he could always go to the cathouse, though more often than not he preferred to calm his own nerves than take one of the working girls. Even he had standards. Still, none of them had ever really had any effect on him. They were too fake and he could tell. He only ever did what he needed to relieve the tension and the stress that came with it and was on his way.

Shilo was different. There was something about her that drew him to her. She intrigued him. Her natural beauty, her innocence and naivety, her strong will and determination, her fear and her curiosity, she was pure and perfect. She was real, and he wanted her. For the first time in ages he didn't just want something quick to take the edge off. He wanted her with him and he wanted to take the time to explore every beautiful imperfection, every freckle, every scar. He wanted to explore her in every way possible... and he wanted to truly enjoy it. He wanted to be the one to teach her about the side of herself that he doubted she'd ever explored except by herself. He absentmindedly stroked himself as he imagined taking her.  
He finished quickly and washed up. Though he had his release the tension was still there. He was still annoyingly unsatisfied. He wouldn't be, he knew, until he'd had her. That thought begged to question, once he'd had her would he be free, or would he be even more helplessly drawn to her? He wished he could just walk away now before things got even more complicated but he couldn't. He was as addicted to her as his customers were to the Zydrate he sold. Once he had a taste of her there'd be no going back. He turned off the water and dried his hair as best he could before wrapping the towel around his waist.

Shilo sat in the window, much as she'd seen Graverobber doing. But instead of paying attention to the world below as he had, she had her knees pulled to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and was reflecting on the variety of things she was feeling. She was confused by the onslaught of emotions she'd been feeling. The opera had affected her. You had to be a monster for it not to. She'd begun life that night a sheltered naïve girl. By the end of the night she'd become a slightly more hardened woman. She still possessed a certain innocence of the real world, but she was by no means blind to its cruelty any longer. She was still angry for having been lied to for so many years, for having been held prisoner by lies. Still, the loss of her father had saddened her and left her feeling utterly alone and vulnerable in this new world that she knew so little about.  
Then there was Graverobber.

Whenever he was around her, Shilo was assaulted with an onslaught of emotion. He scared her, he made her laugh, he aroused her, he disgusted her, he made her uncomfortable, and he made her feel safe. She wanted for him to hold her close and not let her go, and she wanted him to stay away. She was confused by all she felt for Graverobber and rightly so. She understood that she had feelings for him, but she didn't understand why. He was a pervert. What had happened earlier was proof of that. First he'd taken her to a whorehouse, then he'd practically stripped her naked. A wave of embarrassment washed over her at the thought, not because of what he'd done, but because she had allowed him to do it... wanted it even.  
She liked to pretend that she wouldn't give in to him one of these days but she knew in her heart that it was a lie. She could pretend she was full of purity and innocence all she wanted, but she was still human and there had been plenty of times since she'd reached puberty that she'd sat in the prison cell that was her bedroom and wondered what it would be like to kiss a boy, to be touched, to have sex. Now here she was all alone in the world, free for the first time in seventeen years, and the one thing she wanted most was to experience those things that she had only been able to imagine for so long... and the one person that she wanted to experience them with was a man she knew nothing about. Well, that isn't entirely true, she thought. She knew that he'd protected her, in his own way. Where her father had closed her off from the world for protection, Graverobber had taken her out and opened her eyes to the reality of the world she now lived in. Still, he was at least ten years older than her and she didn't know anything about his past or how he seemed to know the things he did. She didn't even know his real name. She shouldn't want him like she did, but try as she might, she couldn't force herself not to.

Graverobber sighed before regaining his composure and walking back into the room. Shilo was sitting in the window, much the way he had, staring off into space. She didn't seem to notice him enter. Instead, she seemed to be lost in thought. He smiled to himself as he imagined that she was thinking of him. Seeing her there stirred his arousal again, but he was able to ignore it. He stood behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder rousing her back to reality. She started at his touch but quickly relaxed again. Graverobber looked out the window, caught a glimpse of a cat stalking among the trashcans. "Something wrong kid?"

Shilo shook her head absentmindedly and continued to stare off out the window. "Just thinking. So much has happened and I don't know what I want anymore."

Graverobber squeezed her shoulder. "This coming from somewhere?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean.... I don't know what I mean. Everything is so confusing. Before... before the opera all I wanted was to be free. I don't know if that's really what I want anymore. Was freedom really worth my dad's death?" She sank back against him. "I should have listened to him. I should never have left my room."

He stroked her arm reassuringly. She allowed it. "Would you rather have been trapped in your room and poisoned by your father? Would you rather live with the lies and never know the truth about you mother?"

"It was better that way. I had my dad. He kept me safe."

"He poisoned you, worse than that, imprisoned you. He didn't keep you safe, he kept you from from the world."

"So!" Her voice was beginning to waiver. "The world is cruel." Tears once again began to build, though she would not let them fall.

"Well the truth hurts kid. But locking you up isn't protecting you. You deserve to see the world the way it is, to know the truth no matter how hard it is to hear it. What you do with that knowledge is up to you."

She was silent for a moment. "It doesn't really matter now, I guess. He's dead and I'm alone and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now."

Graverobber let his hand drop back to his side. "Well it's nice to know that I count for something," he said sarcastically.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I just..."

"No hard feelings. I know what you meant. Truth is, you can't hang around forever. But you'll figure things out."  
Shilo set her mouth in a grim line and nodded solemnly. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she'd always known that he wouldn't let her stay. She pushed the thought, and the jumble of emotions she'd been struggling to understand, aside and went back to looking outside. There wasn't much to the view. The nest building over was only ten feet away. Even in the dim light she could make out every grime covered brick in the wall. The night sky was nearly blocked out. She leaned her head back and let her mind go blank.

Graverobber left her to her thoughts and grabbed her bag up from the floor. He sat on the edge of the bed and unzipped an inside pocket. The sound of the zipper vaguely registered in Shilo's mind. But by the time it sank in and she was able to react, Graverobber was already pulling a folded sheet of cardstock from the pocket. He wrinkled his brow and unfolded the square of paper. The poster was colored in sepia tones, but the long hair pulled back from the forehead, dark slash lips, smug look all belonged to an all too familiar face. The figure on the poster held a bright blue vial in one hand and the word WANTED was scrawled down one side. The look in Graverobber's eyes darkened.  
He looked at Shilo, still lost in her own world. "What's this?" There was no humorous edge to his voice now. His tone was guarded and suspicious. Shilo looked at him and stopped dead. He was holding the poster that she'd snatched from the fire pit and put away for safekeeping. She'd held her breath when he dumped her belongings out so unceremoniously before they'd left but was relieved that he hadn't bothered to search the inner pocket. Now he sat there, creased poster in hand, looking at her like she'd committed a crime.

"Nothing, I found it."

Graverobber looked at her. Her eyes were wide and worried looking. He wanted to believe that she couldn't possibly be waiting to turn him in to the authorities, god knows Amber would have a field day with him then for every time he'd made her beg for a fix, but he'd grown not to trust anyone. "You found it? And where, might I ask, did you find it?"

Shilo looked down at the floor sheepishly. "Well, actually, I got it, I mean I saw it back at your place... near the fire drum. There were a bunch on the floor and I just thought...."

"You just thought what? This I gotta hear." Shilo's nerves were getting the best of her now. Her face was flushed and she was flustered. That, Graverobber knew, was not the look of a guilty party, but of an embarrassed girl being forced to tell the guy she has a crush on that she likes him. Graverobber grinned his wolfs grin.

"I-I don't know. I didn't think it would matter if I took it. I'm sorry. It was stupid. I shouldn't have been poking around."  
Graverobber shoved the bag aside and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. He was still holding the poster. Shilo glanced at the floor. The towel around Graverobber;s hips was riding up, no to mention that it had loosened around his hips. It was dangerously close to revealing everything. Try as she might, Shilo couldn't keep her eyes trained on the floor. Rather, she found her gaze wandering back to Graverobber and the towel that threatened to come off at any moment. Graverobber looked at the poster in his hand once more and then back towards Shilo. "You're right, you shouldn't go poking around through other peoples stuff. You're beginning to act like me. So, did you find anything interesting?"

"Uh no. Not really. Just a bunch of posters and magazines and newspapers and stuff. Not that I was really looking!"

Graverobber rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, and your wearing that outfit," he said gesturing to her, "because I thought it was a lot more concealing when I picked it out." Shilo's self consciousness struck her again and she absentmindedly pulled at the hem of her skirt. "So, why'd you take this?" He asked holding up the paper in his hand.

Shilo inhaled deeply. "I wanted it," she whispered.

Graverobber heard her, but the sadist in him wanted to see her squirm. "Why'd you take it?"

"I said I wanted it." She refused to look at him now. She couldn't meet his gaze. Her cheeks were flushed.

Graverobber wasn't about to let her go that easily though. "What'd you want it for? Gonna try turning me in to the Genecops?" He knew from her body language that wasn't the case, but he got a thrill from watching her writhe on the end of the hook.

She looked up at that, a hurt expression lining her face. "No! I would never... I couldn't turn you in." She swallowed hard. "You're the only friend I have in the world. You're all I have. I just, I just wanted something to remember you by when you left."

Her eyes broke contact with him and her voice trailed off as she said this. Her admission touched a part inside of him that had been buried for quite some time. He ignored it. "Calm down kid, I'm not mad, just messing with you." Graverobber folded the poster back up and returned it to the pocket.

Shilo was furious that he was playing games with her. She had nothing, her family was dead, she couldn't bring herself to enter her own house anymore, and she was clinging to the one person that she felt remotely close to.... and he had the audacity to toy with her. She got up from the window seat and snatched the bag from his hand. She hugged the beg to her chest and sat sulkily back down and pouted. She'd been so stupid. How could she have been dumb enough to fall for him? And how could she possibly have thought that there was even a chance that he liked her back?

A heavy silence hung in the air between them. Graverobber mentally scolded himself for toying with her after realizing that she posed no threat. Honestly, was he completely incapable of at least acting considerate? It was a mechanism though, he knew. One that he'd developed a long time ago to keep people from getting to close. A psychiatrist would say that it was a safety mechanism, turn everything into a joke so the world can't hurt you, it was a good thing then that he didn't bother with psychiatrists. He needed that psycho mumbo jumbo like he needed a hole in his head. He knew why he'd developed his habit of pushing peoples buttons, and in most cases it amused him, but with her things were different. He still liked to play with her like a cat does a mouse. But when he went to far, when she'd stormed off across the tiny room just now, he felt a pang of guilt. He wished he didn't. He really didn't want to have feelings for anyone never mind a seventeen-year-old girl. Where would that ever get him? Maybe she needed a new friend, but he was better off alone. A guy like him had plenty of enemies and right now number one was the head of a multi billion dollar corporation known for taking out anyone that screwed them over. Deep down he knew that his biggest fear was that Shilo would get caught in the crossfire if Amber ever decided to play cat and mouse with him.

Still, he knew, there was nothing he could do about it. He'd let her hang around too long. He was too intrigued by her, too captivated by her to let her go now. He couldn't deny his feelings for her, at least not to himself. And he was too far gone to tell her to get lost no matter how often he reminded her that it would eventually come to that. Only he knew that it was all a show. And he, ever the showman, was only putting on another act. But her pain wasn't part of the show he wanted performed by her on his behalf. Fixing his mistake meant only one thing.... he'd have to say he was sorry. That was the one thing he never expected to have to do. He took one more look at her huddled in the corner, tears discreetly dripping down her cheeks, and he swallowed his pride and his better judgment. She was gonna be his undoing all right. "Look, kid, I'm sorry. I.." He what? He just wanted to hear her admit that she'd taken the poster because she liked him? "I shouldn't have pushed you so far. Truth is... I like you." There, he'd admitted it. Much as he hated to. "I wasn't thinking ok? You've been through a lot and I shouldn't've been trying to get a rise outta you." She didn't speak. Slightly annoyed, and still feeling a bit guilty, Graverobber gritted his teeth and sighed. He instinctively rubbed the back of his neck. It was a nervous habit.

Shilo didn't look up, at least not right away. He likes me? She tried to wrap her mind around it. Part of her was relieved. If he liked her then it was ok for her to like him. Part of her was confused. Why would he like her? Was it just another game to him? She thought on that possibility for a moment. He'd seemed sincere. She even thought she detected a hint of sadness, or maybe guilt, in his voice. She might be a horrible judge of character, the utter faith she'd had in her father was testimony to that, but she believed what he'd said. Her inner voice, one that had become cynical in the past week and a half, told her that she heard what she wanted to hear but that didn't make it true. Be that as it may, Shilo decided that she had to believe that it was true. She needed something to cling to. She couldn't make it alone. She had to believe that he honestly cared.

She sniffled quietly and took a few deep breaths to stop the flow of tears. She was angry at herself for that. She hated the fact that she cried so easily now. It was one thing to cry for the loss of her father, even for the realization that she was alone now, but to cry simply because the man she had feelings for had embarrassed her? She was reminded of the overly sensitive characters that she'd watched on tv. They'd always bothered her and now she was turning into one of them. She willed her tears to stop and silently vowed not to cry anymore. She balled up her fist and wiped the tears away. She looked at Graverobber. He was still sitting hunched over on the edge of the bed. One hand dangled limply between his knees and he was rubbing at the back of his neck. She regained her composure. "Do you mean it?" Her voice was quiet, barely heard over the muffled music that bleed through the floor and the sounds that came through the walls.

Graverobber looked at her. Her eyes were red, but she had stopped crying. He could tell she was trying her hardest to look cool calm and collected. The look in her eyes begged for him to tell her yes, he had, that this was not a sick joke on a depressed young girl. In his most sincere tone he spoke the four words she needed. "Yeah kid, I mean it." It was all he could manage.

That seemed to be enough for her and a tiny smile sprouted on her lips. "Thank you." Her eyes sparkled and she hugged her backpack close again and bit her lip. Now what? Where would they go from here? Would anything change, or would it stay the same, with him trying his best to keep her at a distance? Shilo looked at Graverobber. He shifted uneasily and ran his hand through his hair. There was an awkward silence between them.

A sharp knock on the door broke the silence. Shilo got up to answer, but Graverobber beat her to it. She was a few steps behind him. He opened the door and stepped back to allow the woman into the room. She held a pile of freshly laundered clothes which she held out to him. Graverobber took them and dropped everything but his pants on the bed as he made his way to the bathroom. He stepped inside without bothering to close the door. He came out a few seconds later, pants pulled hastily on but left unbuttoned. Shilo couldn't help but stare. She'd seen him shirtless before, obviously, but now she allowed herself a good look. He eyes moved from his face down to his chest, and followed the hair there down to his naval where it trailed a thin line that disappeared into the top of his pants. Graverobber went to his coat and dug around for a few seconds and returned, not holding a vial like Shilo had expected, but a small stack of credits. He handed them to the woman. She pocketed them with a smile and turned to leave. She got as far as the door before she shot a glance over her shoulder with a flirtatious smile.

Graverobber shut the door behind her and attended to his pants. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shilo sitting on the edge of the bed, the slightest hint of a pout on her lips. Graverobber turned around and grabbed his shirt. "You ok kid?" He asked as he pulled the worn but clean linen shirt over his head.

Shilo looked at him and smiled. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

Graverobber smirked. "I've been around a while kid, I'm pretty good at reading people. What's eating you?"

Shilo rolled her eyes, annoyed that he was able to see through her so well. "Do all the women in this city look at you like that? I'm not as innocent as you'd think, but still, it's not like you're _that _great."

Graverobber's eyes widened in astonishment and he let out a low chuckle. "Really kid, I'm hurt. And to think, we were just starting to get along." He sat on the bed and began pulling on his boots. "By the way, just thought you should know, she was looking at you not me." Graverobber kept his eyes on Shilo just long enough to register the shock on her face before finishing getting dressed. When he was done he grabbed his jacket and slung it on. He strapped on the holsters, tool kit, Z-gun and painted his face. "Ok kid, I gotta go collect. I'll walk you back to the flat before I go."

"No."

Graverobber was puzzled. "No what?"

"I don't want to sit around and wait for you to come back again. I hate waiting, I hate being cooped up in a room. I want to go with you."

Graverobber shook his head. "No way kid. It's too dangerous. You're not going with me."

Shilo was fed up. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm **not **a kid. And newsflash... It's not that dangerous. I've been up against the Largos and the Repo Man I think I can handle a few Gene Cops. Besides, I can be your lookout."

Graverobber gave her a stern look. "Rotti wasn't gonna hurt you and his worthless kids sure as hell wouldn't have gone after you while he was still alive. And your father would never have laid a hand on you. This is different. There's no one to save our asses if the Gene Cops corner us this time. You can either stay here, go to the flat, or go home."

Shilo just stuck out her chin in defiance. She was getting good at this rebellion thing. "Amber and the others won't come after me now. They got what they wanted and they know that I want nothing to do with GeneCo, that's good enough for them. And the Gene Cops won't corner us as long as you keep quiet and I'm on lookout. I'm. Going. With. You."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

They stalked silently through the shadows of the cemetery. Graverobber led the way. He'd dart ahead from mausoleum to mausoleum, tombstone to tombstone and scan the area for GeneCops. When the coast was clear he waved her to join him and then darted on ahead again. It didn't take long for him to find the area he was looking for. He shoved the list of locations back into his pocket where he'd found it and crouched beside the mausoleum. He signaled for Shilo to join him and watched as the remainder of the funeral procession left. When they'd gone he made his way to the gravesite and assessed the situation. It was a lucky catch for him. This area of the cemetery was full, at least below the soil. The new body had been buried in a small above ground granite sarcophagus. All he had to do was shove the heavy top stone away and the hard part was done. If he got really lucky the body would've been buried with something of value. He wouldn't hold his breath on that one however. These days whatever wealth a person had when they died was unceremoniously split between the surviving relatives. It was a rare occasion when a valuable wedding band or pocket watch or anything like that was put into the ground... or the tomb, to rot or be stolen when it could be sold.

Shilo knelt in the dirt beside Graverobber. She looked around nervously before her eyes settled expectantly on him. "This is it kid," he whispered. "Keep an eye out." She said nothing but instead rose up a little and glanced around. Her heart was racing with fear and excitement. Seeing no GeneCops she ducked back down and glanced side to side between the headstones as Graverobber put his shoulder to the granite slab and pushed. It didn't move. He gritted his teeth and braced himself and jammed his shoulder into the lid hard enough to jar him. He grunted as the slab moved about three inches before it was once again immobile. He slid back down to a sitting position and panted for a moment before putting his shoulder to the stone one last time. He pushed hard and stone began to slide off. He looked over at Shilo. She grunted as she put all of her weight behind the heavy slab and pushed with all her might. He gave a lopsided grin when he saw that she was attempting to help. It worked though, and the stone slid free. It made a muffled thudding noise as it hit the packed dirt. Graverobber paused and made a quick scan of the area to make sure they hadn't attracted any attention. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he opened the coffin lying within and tugged the corpse out and dropped it at his feet.

Shilo looked over at it and felt the blood drain from her face. She remembered the first time she'd met Graverobber. She'd run into him in this very situation and followed him when he'd stupidly alerted the GeneCops with his singing. "Make yourself useful and look out kid," He said and went to work. He knelt by the corpse and hummed a tune as he set to work. He carefully unfolded his tool kit and removed the extracting needle and collected vial and a half of Zydrate. He replaced the extractor back in its place and inserted the vials into the holster on his thigh. "All right kid, we're done with this one. Lets go." He crouched down and made his way back to the shadows. The list for new graves that he'd gotten was sadly short. He frowned at it. Fewer and fewer people were willing to pay the price for actual burials anymore. He would have to stop by the mass graves. He led the way to the building where the bodies poured in constantly.

It took a bit longer to get there than he figured it would. They made a few stops on the way at a couple other fresh grave sites. He'd had to break out his shovel and dig in one case. Luckily for him it had been a family plot, each generation buried on top of the other until the most recent occupant was no more than a couple feet beneath the surface. At one point they'd had to jump behind the nearest monument to hide themselves from GeneCops patrolling the area. But, they managed to get where they were going without being discovered. Luckily for Graverobber the night had been rather uneventful thus far, bar the near run in with the GeneCops, and his Zydrate supply was nearly stocked. He crawled through a jagged hole in the side of the crypt, quickly followed by Shilo.

Shilo gagged as she entered the burial chamber. The smell of decomposing corpses assailed her. She stuck her head out of the hole they'd come in through and vomited. She tried to gulp in the fresher air outside of the burial building, but the stench of decaying corpses and rotting flesh was all she could smell. Graverobber laid a hand on her shoulder and held out a faded wrinkled bandanna. Shilo looked at it. The corner of Graverobber's mouth curled upward and he wrapped the cloth tightly around her mouth and nose. "The trick is not to breathe through your nose. This oughta help a little. Just breathe through your mouth and do your best to ignore the taste." He tied the cloth in a tight knot at the back of her head.

Shilo took a shallow breath as Graverobber had instructed. She understood what he meant about the taste. It wasn't as bad, she didn't have the urge to throw up, but she still gagged at first. The taste of death filled her mouth and she tried her best to ignore the taste coating her tongue and watched Graverobber instead. He waded through the sea of bodies without flinching, kneeling by this body or that, trying to decipher which most likely held the best quality glow. Shilo was grossly aware of the flesh beneath her feet. With ever shift of her weight she felt and heard the crunch and snap of bones. She tried her best not to move. Every time she did, she slipped as flesh sloughed off of bones and slid beneath her feet. She focused her attention on Graverobber so she didn't have to look into the faces of the dead. She didn't like the blank cloudy stares, the rotten maggot filled sockets, they made her sick. He moved gracefully among the dead. He never slipped or lost his footing, he seemed to move with ease stooping here or there to take a closer look at this body or that then moving on. Finally, he found what he'd been looking for. He straddled the young womans body and rummaged through his tools. As he did so he looked back at Shilo, who was watching him intently. An evil thought crossed his mind. He looked her straight in the eyes in the dim light, "You know what necrophilia is kid?"

Shilo looked at him across the room with visibe disgust. "Uugh," she cringed, "that's illegal."

Graverobber smirked, slipping the needle into the skull of the body beneath him as he registered her response. "So is selling drugs, but that doesn't bother me either." Satisfied to see that he'd gotten a rise out of the girl, he pocketed the Zydrate and packed up his tools. As a final touch he bent down, knowing that Shilo could see him well enough in the darkness, and kissed the corpse's forehead. "Looks like I can't play tonight luv," he said loud enough that he knew Shilo would hear. He started back toward the entrance.

Shilo was disgusted. He'd just. Kissed. A corpse. She started to back up, edging closer to the hole in the wall, unsure whether to stay or run. As she got closer a pair of arms shot through the hole and grabbed her. She let out a choked scream before a gloved hand clamped down over her cloth covered mouth. She tried to scream even though all that came out were muffled squeals. She thrashed and squirmed against the arms holding her, but she couldn't get free. With every move she made their grip seemed only to get tighter.

Graverobber hurried toward Shilo as fast as he could taking care not to stumble over the corpses beneath his feet. He could hear her struggling just out of sight. Was it possible that that was a good sign? After all, had it been GeneCops, they would have just shot her already wouldn't they? Especially since there wasn't a chance of them being told to back down now. The only other possibility that crossed his mind was that someone had noticed Shilo with him and had followed them intending to rape her. He burst out of the crypt to see Shilo being held by a GeneCop. His gloved hand was clamped firmly over her mouth and he was holding her to him tightly, arms pinned to her sides while she kicked at him to no avail. There was another GeneCop on either side of her, guns aimed at her tiny form. Graverobber ran toward her but was stopped. Amber's valets stepped in before he could reach her. Each of them grabbed an arm and held him firmly in place. Two more GeneCops stepped up and took their places beside the valets. Graverobber was more than pissed at this point. He wasn't about to let anything happen to her, but at the same time there wasn't anything he could do. He could struggle against his captors all he wanted but they were stronger than him and held him where he stood.

Amber stepped from the shadows and stood in front of Graverobber. She looked at the man that she was both secretly infatuated with and hated. He had denied her affection except when it suited him and even then he'd made her beg for it. She loathed the idea of someone having power over her, especially him. She stood tall in front of Graverobber, chin thrust out haughtily. Graverobber lunged forward only to be pulled forcefully back by the valets. The GeneCops raised their weapons and aimed them at Graverobbers chest. "If you hurt her I swear I'll fucking kill you!" He growled.

Amber gave him a sickly sweet smile. "I heard you'd been acting strange lately. What's wrong, tired of robbing graves thought you'd start robbing cradles?"

His face twisted up in a sneer of fury. "Go to hell Amber."

Amber gritted her teeth and glared at him. "I'd watch it if I were you Graverobber. I hold a lot of power in this city and I can have you taken out like that," she snapped her fingers for emphasis. "But... something tells me it'd be even better punishment to take care of the little bitch over there." She glanced at Shilo and back at Graverobber and sneered. Graverobber was silent, but his expression said more than words ever could. It cautioned Amber to watch her step. It said _You're lucky your goons are holding me back or I'd tear you to shreds where you stand just for laying a hand on her. _

Amber was very aware that she was playing with fire and if she didn't watch it she would get burned. That was the precise reason she'd brought back up in the first place. She knew that with enough firepower and muscle Graverobber wouldn't be a match at all. The hardest part of her plan had been trying to find a way to capture the Zydrate King in the first place. He seemed to have an annoying habit of disappearing and evading her guards when he wanted to. But then one of her sources told her that he'd been seen hanging out with the Wallace brat. After that, she'd taken a special interest in their relationship. It had only taken the few days since Graverobber had found the girl for Amber to realize that if she were to grab Shilo and use her as bait Graverobber would fall right into her trap... and she'd been right. It had been sheer luck that the cameras in the cemetery had picked up Graverobber sneaking along with the girl in tow. She'd been planning to grab her at the cathouse after Graverobber had left, but it was just as easy this way.

Her sneer turned into a smile. She turned her back on Graverobber and turned her attentions to the girl. She strutted over to her like she owned the world and trailed a perfectly manicured nail along the side of Shilo's face. "Don't worry your pretty little face. You'll be fine, that is, as long as this Graverobber here doesn't cross me." She pinched Shilo's cheek hard and refocused her attention on the drug peddler. She stopped in front of him, head held high. "It's simple Graverobber. You help me, work for GeneCo, and I don't have my guards here fuck up your little whore, deal?" She arched her brow expectantly.

Graverobber attempted to lunge at her again. The guards aimed their weapons and cocked them. He was helpless against her and he loathed it. "Fuck yourself Amber," he growled and spit in her face. Her face twisted in anger. She wiped the saliva off and landed a kick with a spike heeled boot to his groin. His vision turned black for a split second before it clouded over with stars and he doubled over in agony. The pain was so intense that his legs gave out and Amber's thugs had to hold him up.

Amber grabbed his face in one hand so hard that her nails dug into his cheek. "Consider this your only warning Graverobber," She hissed. "I don't need you anymore, but I'm willing to pardon your criminal ways if you'll just work for me. You have a week to decide what you're going to do. I'd think carefully if I were you. One more fuck up and that little bitch gets it, and I'll make damn sure its not quick and painless. I'll lock her in a room and let my brothers throw her a little welcome to the family party." Tears had begun to drip down Shilo's face, partially out of fear for her own safety, but mostly from Amber's brutality. "One more thing," She reached out and removed the Zydrate vials from his holster. "I believe that this," She said holding up a vial of the glowing liquid, "is illegal contraband. I'm going to have to confiscate it." With that being said, Amber signaled to her guards and they threw Graverobber to the ground. He jarred his shoulder on a head stone and a fresh jolt of pain stabbed through him. It faded much too quickly and was once again replaced by the searing throb between his legs. Graverobber curled into a fetal position on the ground. The guards that had been training their weapons on both him and Shilo backed down and the GeneCop holding Shilo relinquished his hold, sending Shilo tumbling to the dirt. Shilo immediately stumbled to her feet and rushed to Graverobber's side. Amber and her thugs left them and disappeared into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Shilo dropped to her knees beside Graverobber who was still curled up writhing in anguish. Shilo rested a hand on his shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort him. He continued to groan and hiss in misery. She looked back to where Amber had vanished into the night and cursed under her breath. She wanted to bash in Amber's face until even her surGENs couldn't put it back together anymore. A wave of shame coursed over her as she related the rage she felt to her father. She pushed the feeling aside for now and returned her attentions to Graverobber. She hated to see him in such pain. Her eyes moved to his tool kit. Amber had taken the Zydrate he'd already collected, but she knew he had a couple of empty vials in there still. Perhaps, she thought, she could take the needle and extract some more for him. She'd never done it before, but she'd watched him enough in one night that it seemed simple enough. Besides, it couldn't be that difficult to do. He'd said so himself hadn't he? All she had to do was find a corpse and smack the needle into its skull and fill the vial. Then all that would be left to do would be to load the Zydrate gun and spark his pain away.

Shilo looked over Graverobbers pathetic form with concern. She'd never seen him so helpless and she was fairly certain that if he could by any chance ignore the pain he'd wander off like a wild animal to lick his wounds in peace. As it was, he didn't seem like he'd be wandering off anywhere anytime soon. Shilo felt slightly embarrassed to witness his weakness like this. She reached out to his tool kit but he stopped her. Graverobber grabbed her wrist lightly. "Forget about it for tonight. We'll get more later," he managed through clenched teeth. He hissed in pain as he slowly stretched out.

Shilo attempted to protest. "But I can get more, just enough to take the pain away."

Graverobber shook his head. "A good dealer never dips into his own product kid, I'll live. Just... gimmie a minute." Graverobber closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and tried to stop the world from spinning. His balls throbbed in agony. He tried to block out the pain, but it was impossible. He'd known that Amber could be a ball buster, but not literally, at least not with him. She'd always been willing to throw herself at his feet.

_Well,_he thought, _at least now I know the new rules she wants to play by. _He'd have to make sure he watched his step now. She was making a play for power. She thought she could beat him into submission like a dog, she had another thing coming. He wasn't about to lie down and beg for that skank, that was for damn sure. Still, that made his life a hell of a lot more complicated than he liked. It had been bad enough when Shilo had come into the picture, now not only did he have to keep the two of them from getting caught, he'd have to make sure that they stayed one step ahead of Amber. That particular part of the plan was easier said than done. Graverobber knew, perhaps better than most, that there were camera's all over the city, and every one was linked directly to what had once been Rotti's office in GeneCo's headquarters.

Graverobber had to come up with a way to keep Amber happy without giving her control over him. More than that, he had to figure out a way to keep Shilo out of her hands. Now that Amber suspected that he had feelings for the girl she wouldn't hesitate to use her as collateral to get him to do whatever it was she wanted him for in the first place. His mind wouldn't work at the moment. He couldn't think in this condition. He was glad that Amber had been kind enough to give him enough time to figure out what he would do to get out of this mess, but for now the best course of action would be to take Shilo home and get some rest and use tomorrow to figure things out.

Graverobber grimaced. He wanted to lie there in the dirt until he'd recuperated from his chance encounter, but time wasn't a luxury that he could afford. He squeezed his eyes shut and steeled himself. A new shock of pain jolted through him and he grunted in discomfort as he slowly rose to his feet using Shilo and the surrounding gravestones as to lift himself up. He leaned heavily on Shilo to steady himself. She wrapped an arm around his waist and did her best to help him begin walking. Graverobber hobbled around as best he could, but with each step the pain flared up and returned to a dull throb as they paused, only to flare up once again with the next step.

They hadn't gotten far before Shilo realized that they were never going to get anywhere this way. She wasn't strong enough to hold him up for one thing, and he was obviously in too much pain and discomfort to get very far on his own. She maneuvered him to a darkened crypt and let him slump onto the steps. Shilo tried to think of an alternative plan. They could always spend the night in one of the tombs, she supposed. She'd done it before, and she wouldn't be particularly surprised to find out that Graverobber had too. Still, the thought that Amber and her thugs might still be hanging around bothered her. She'd feel much safer if they just went back to the run down building that Graverobber called home for now. But he could barely walk. Shilo frowned at the situation. As she struggled to think of an alternative solution to the problem Shilo heard the rumble of a trash truck on its way to make a drop off. It sparked an idea. The trucks came and went at all hours, there was bound to be one that was not only heading out, but in the right direction.

Shilo sat next to Graverobber on the steps. She explained her plan to him while he nursed his injury. They would make their way to the exit road and wait for the next truck from the right part of the city to come by. From there all they had to do was hop on the back and hitch a ride back. The plan seemed simple enough and Graverobber agreed that it was their best course of action. It took them a while to reach the exit road and even after they'd made it there it was another hour before the right truck passed by. During that time Shilo jumped at every noise she thought she heard and every shadow she thought she saw, convinced that Amber was toying with them like a cat toys with a mouse. Afraid that the she-bitch would come back and hurt Graverobber. It took her a moment to realize that she was more worried about what Amber would do to Graverobber during their next encounter, than she was of Amber's threat to lock her in a room with Luigi and Pavi. That Graverobber's well being meant more to her than her own said something, especially when she knew what Pavi and Luigi were capable of.

Graverobber jabbed Shilo gently with his elbow to get her attention. She jumped and gave a surprised squeal. He was hunched down beside her against the wall, letting the wall support most of his weight. Beneath the grease paint, Shilo could tell his face was pale with pain, yet he was still more observant out here then she was. "Thats the one," he said as a truck rumbled slowly down the road toward them. Mentally scolding herself for being so skittish and losing focus, she attempted to help him to his feet. She wasn't sure if she was any more useful then a crutch as they half sprinted to the truck. It was harder then it had been the last time they'd had to hop a truck, and Graverobber stumbled and nearly fell as his hand slipped from the hand bar on his first attempt to climb on. He regained his balance and hauled himself up on the second try. He reached out and grabbed Shilo's forearm and helped pull her onto the truck and settled in as comfortably as he could for the ride.

The closer they got to Whitechapel Avenue, the more the truck slowed down. Graverobber stuck his head out of the back and looked around, craning his neck to see as far ahead of them as he could. He couldn't see much, but when a GeneCop entered his sight line he knew the ride was over. He nudged Shilo. "End of the line kid," he said and held out a hand. "Ladies first."

Shilo gave him a puzzled look. "But there's still a few more blocks before we get there."  
"I know kid, but we get off here. From what I can see there's GeneCops up ahead. I don't know if there's a road block or a search or what... but personally, after the bang up night we've had so far, I'd rather not be there to find out."

Shilo nodded in silent agreement, scooted to the edge and hopped out. Graverobber patted down his pockets to make sure he hadn't lost anything during their trip and followed rather less than gracefully. As the truck rumbled slowly away he grabbed Shilo and pulled her into the nearest open alleyway. Safely hidden in the shadows Shilo finally spoke up. "You don't really think she's looking for us, do you?" She asked. "I mean, if she really wanted to do anything she could've done it back there in the graveyard. Besides, she wouldn't know where to find you, …. would she?"

Her brow creased with worry, or perhaps it was jealousy. Graverobber couldn't be sure, though he had a feeling that, in light of recent events it was more likely the former than the latter. "I don't know kid. Honestly, her coming out of nowhere and expecting me to be a part of her dirty work was straight outta left field. I don't have a clue what she's up to, but I don't intend to be her bitch either. As for knowing where I hole up, she's never been there and I move a lot, but she's got eyes all over this city and it wouldn't surprise me if she got someone to roll on me."

"Spies?" Shilo questioned.

"Not just spies kid, she's got cameras too. Still, it wouldn't surprise me if she had me followed. Probably wouldn't take much on her part. All she'd have to do is promise to keep the Repo off some poor sods back, or hell, just spread her legs. That's nothing new to her. Like she said, I've been a bit preoccupied lately. Haven't been thinking with the right head. If she got someone stealthy enough to follow me there's a chance I wouldn'ta noticed." Shilo lowered her head apologetically. Graverobber wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they strolled to the far end of the alley. "It's not your fault kid. Come on, lets get home."

"What about the GeneCops?" She was looking around now, searching the shadows for spies, and the facades of buildings for hidden cameras.

Graverobber frowned. The kid had a point. He wasn't too afraid of making it past GeneCo's rent a cop police force, but it'd be a hell of a lot easier if he didn't stand out quite so much. They picked their way slowly through the twisting turning back alley's that would eventually lead them home. The closer they got to their destination the more often Graverobber saw GeneCo patrols.

He looked over at Shilo. Chances were better for her to get by unnoticed than they were for him. He quickly scanned the area and noted that the buildings around them seemed either empty or at very lest quiet. "Stay here and keep a look out. I'll be right back. Make yourself scarce if those bastards wander in here," he said quietly. Shilo watched as he began to ascend the fire escape and look into windows.

Halfway up, he found exactly what he had been looking for. The window looked in on an empty bedroom. There were no curtains on the lone window and the interior of the room was stark and plain. There was no light in the room and, as far as he could tell, the rest of the apartment was empty. He leaned over the railing and looked at Shilo. She was fidgeting nervously and looking anywhere but up. He called to her as loud as he dared and gestured her to join him.

Shilo made one last sweeping glance around before creeping up the rusty fire escape after him. Graverobber possessed an ability to creep around undetected, even when injured, that Shilo did not. Try as she might not to make a sound, she failed and the escape groaned and creaked and rattled with each step she took. He rolled his eyes at her. "Geeze kid, why don't you just tell them where we are?" Shilo responded with a sheepishly apologetic look and attempted to tiptoe as noiselessly as possible the rest of the way up.

Graverobber leaned over the railing and quickly surveyed the area. Satisfied that Shilo's less than stealthy retreat hadn't attracted any unnecessary attention, he pressed a gloved hand to the window and shouldered it open. The window came open easier than he would have expected. _But then again_, Graverobber thought, _it doesn't really seem like whoever lives here has to worry much about thieves. _He climbed through the open window with relative ease for a man his size and stature. He stuck his head back out and offered Shilo a hand.

She managed to crawl through without incident and stood at Graverobbers side in the empty room. She looked around uncomfortably. Hanging out in the cemetery was one thing, going to a whore house with a man that she still hardly knew was another. What she was doing now fit into a completely different category in her moralistic view book. Breaking and entering into someone else's private space seemed somehow more wrong than the act of robbing the dead. Shilo pondered this sudden turn of thought for a moment. Hadn't it only been a few days ago that she had been angry with Graverobber for violating her own fathers corpse? And yet, tonight she had gone out and watched him collect, even helped him in some cases. She hadn't worked the needle herself, but wasn't she just as guilty as he was? Shilo hazarded a guess that the GeneCops would think so.

Still, she reasoned, the dead were.... well, dead. What they were doing now, well, they were violating the living. The thought of being in someone else's private sanctuary put a knot in her stomach.

She considered how she would feel if someone were to invade her father's house. Even though she couldn't bear to think of going back there, not yet, the thought of someone going in without her permission and touching her fathers things, looting, bothered her beyond reason. Her mind careened carefully around the fact that Graverobber had done just that. She watched him as he went over to a chest and began rooting through drawers. He shuffled the clothes inside around, every so often taking one item out and unfolding it, only to frown and shove it back unceremoniously.

Graverobber dug through disorganized mounds of clothing, pulling out pants and shorts and tossing then back in again. Nothing here suited his taste. He sighed, annoyed with himself. He wasn't shopping, he was _supposed _to be looking for a disguise. He pulled a pair of dark colored cargo pants from the drawer and held them up to him. They were a bit on the long side, and looked like they'd be too big in the waist but they'd have to do he decided. He didn't want to stick around here much longer than he had to. That meant there wasn't really enough time to go looking for a vacant apartment with a well stocked closet of clothes that would fit him appropriately. He grimaced in the dark and tossed the pants onto the shabby shadow of the bed.

He moved on to what was, he correctly assumed, the closet. _Closet is, perhaps, not quite the appropriate word for it,_ he thought. In truth, it was more of a hole in the wall with a bent metal bar across it strung with clothes and covered over with a sheet. Graverobber pulled the sheet aside exposing what little bit had not already been visible. He curled his lip in disdain at what he saw. From one side of the closet to the other was a collection of tee shirts. The majority of them were black, though there was occasionally something red or blue in the mix. He pushed a few out of the way and noticed that each shirt was emblazoned with tacky wordplays and sayings, there was even one of those horrible pseudo suit jacket tees.

Graverobber groaned inwardly at his bad luck. _Can't I get just one break tonight? _He thought. _First I get my ass handed to me by that super bitch and now the first empty apartment I come across for clothes happens to be owned by a fashion victim. _He sorted through the shirts looking for something that wasn't overly ridiculous to wear. He was met with phrases like Remember my name, you'll be screaming it later, I went to the Genetic Opera and all I got was this crummy shirt, and Buffy staked Edward... the end! The thought of actually having to wear one of those gaudy getups made him cringe but he pawed through none-the-less. Finally he came across one that made him smile. It was no better than the others really, but it was the air of coincidental humor that got him.

He handed it to Shilo and pulled his shirt over his head. She looked at it. _I'm one of those people your parents warned you about. _He tossed his shirt onto the bed and took the tee from Shilo and put it on. She just stared at him. "You've got to be kidding."

"What's the matter kid, is it too honest?" He let out a low chuckle and smiled his wicked smile. He sat down for a moment and pulled off the heavy steel toed boots he was wearing.

He stood up and turned his back to Shilo and pulled his belt out of the belt loops and tossed it aside. There was the sound of a zipper being undone and Shilo half turned away. She glanced curiously over her shoulder at the half naked Graverobber. The tee shirt hung low and nearly covered his ass but not quite. Shilo mentally scolded herself for staring. His thighs and ass were muscular and well toned and Shilo could only imagine what it would be like to have his thighs pressed between her legs. She watched him as he turned towards the bed to pick up the cargoes he'd tossed there. Shilo could almost swear she seen a tiny bit more before he looked over and caught her peeking.

She quickly avoided eye contact, but he'd seen her looking. The thought that she was checking him out made Graverobber grin. If his groin weren't still throbbing in protest, he would have gone over to her and pressed himself against her back, toyed with her until she was forced to give in to him. He entertained the thought that, had the situation been only slightly different, he would finally break her down and fuck her right here right now in a strangers bed. The thought of taking her made his balls ache in a decidedly unpleasant way and he drove the images, with some difficulty, from his mind before the pain had a chance to renew itself fully. Still, even as he pushed thoughts of her soft supple form from his mind, he wondered if maybe he'd been too soft with her. He'd caught her watching him dress, seen the images that he was sure were running through her mind.

Graverobber made a mental note to himself not to be so gentle with her next time he had a chance and pulled on the cargoes. "I'm decent kid, you can turn around now." Shilo had to stifle a laugh when she saw Graverobber tightening his belt in his new duds. He, however, did not seem so amused. He tossed a dismal stare her way and proceeded to pull his boots back on. "You got a problem kid?"

She swallowed her laughter with some difficulty. "Sorry, but you should see yourself," she smirked. He looked down at himself and scowled. The pants were a couple sizes too big and hung off his frame unflatteringly. The shirt didn't fit badly, but it was difficult to get over the relative corniness of it. "You look like you just crawled out of a dumpster."

He was clearly unamused. "Ha ha kid," he said gravely.

"I'm sorry, but its true."

He sighed. "Alright, that's enough poking fun. Toss my stuff in your bag and lets find our way out of here." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he headed for the bedroom door while Shilo hastily stuffed his things into her bag and hurried after him. He hadn't gotten very far. She found him in a little bathroom off of the hall. He'd turned the lights on here and was silhouetted by the harsh glare of fluorescent bulbs. Water poured from the faucet in the sink and he wiped the skeletal makeup that he wore from his face with a towel.

In the brilliance of the artificial light she could see the age and weariness in his face. A faint trace of vulnerability showed through the tough guy facade that he put on for the world. Shilo thought she could almost see something else, a glimmer of pain from the past, hope for the future, she wasn't quite sure. For all she knew she could have been imagining that slight change of emotion in his face. Either way, she couldn't remember ever seeing him in this light before. There was something so.... common, so utterly human about him at this moment, that it seemed unreal. She felt suddenly curious about Graverobber's past, about how and why he'd become the man he was and why he did what he did. Watching him there, really seeing the man beneath the mask for the first time, she felt closer to him than ever before. She wanted to go over to him and wrap her arms around his waist and just hold him. She knew that no matter what, she wouldn't let him go. He couldn't force her to. They would figure out a way to get Amber off their backs. Shilo was sure of it. They had to... because she couldn't bear to think of being away from him after tonight.

As soon as Graverobber moved, the spell Shilo seemed to have been under was broken. The makeup was gone but the showman had returned, hiding the spark of vulnerability that she could have sworn she'd just seen. That, compounded with the dead man in the bath tub, quickly drew away from the scene Shilo had just witnessed. "Come on kid, we'd best get going. We must have just missed the Repo Man, but they're sure to be sending a clean up crew." He began walking down the hall like he knew where he was headed already. Shilo couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he did. How often did he wander though the homes of the dead, or the living. She had so many questions about his past, about who he was and what he did and what part she played in his world. He was a puzzle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. She looked back one last time at the dead man and followed Graverobber down the hall.

**********

Once they got outside Graverobber could tell something was wrong. There was a distinct burning smell in the air and the night sky was lit up and filled with billowing clouds. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he searched in vain for the origin of the fire. The towering buildings that surrounded the area blocked his view. He ignored the stabbing pain between his legs as he began to run. He grabbed Shilo's arm and pulled her quickly after him. "C'mon kid, hurry up. I got a bad feeling about this."

It took a minute for the smoke and odd flickering light in the sky to register in Shilo's mind. She ran and stumbled and nearly fell on a couple occasions as he dragged her along. Shilo became quickly disoriented as they ducked between buildings, down streets and alleyways, and dodged the watchful eyes of GeneCops. Graverobber seemed to know exactly where he was headed without stopping to get his bearings.

She ran into him as he skidded to an abrupt stop at the end of one of the numerous alley's he'd pulled her down. She was going to scold him for being so rough with her until she saw what had stopped him dead in his tracks. Graverobber muttered a curse. A blazing inferno towered above them eating away at the building before their eyes. The other buildings on the street registered and she gaped with horror. The place that she and Graverobber had called home for the last few days was burning to the ground before their eyes. There were trucks and a crowd of firemen and milling around in front of the blaze keeping it from burning out of control, but otherwise doing nothing to put out the flames licking at the frame. GeneCops performed crowd control and redirected traffic.

They stood there and watched with disbelief as the flames climbed high into the night licking at the sky and illuminating everything for miles. The scene took on a horrible dreamlike quality for Shilo. She no longer heard the roar of the fire or the shouting of fire marshals and police. The flames danced and writhed with a liquid quality as slowly, slowly a disturbing calm settled on her shoulders. She stood in a deafening silence and watched as yet another familiar thing in her life was destroyed and tears, as well as she, slid silently to the ground.

Graverobber watched, his anger mounting, as his temporary home began to crumble. There, standing behind the crowd of people working to keep the fire from raging out of control, a figure stood out from the crowd. A tall woman, flanked on either side by a body guard, watched the blaze. As Graverobber watched, she half turned. Her eyes met his and she smiled. She wasn't Amber Sweet, she was a demon framed by the flames of hell. The rage that had been building inside of him exploded and he bellowed.

Shilo remained transfixed on the ruins of what she'd come to call home as Graverobber kicked the dumpster and dented it. Another glance at Amber, her satisfied smirk, her prim and proper public persona, infuriated Graverobber further and he drove his fist into a brick wall. The sudden explosion of pain in his knuckles sobered him enough to make him stop and take stock of the situation.

Shilo was sitting limply on the sidewalk, staring hypnotically at the red and yellow forked tongues of flame while tears crept down her cheeks. Amber turned with her guards and sauntered away. His hand stung where the brick had lacerated his flesh and blood began to trickle from the wound. He flexed his hand tentatively, sucking in a sharp breath as his joints screamed with pain as he opened and closed his fist. _At least it isn't broken_, he thought. He paused and pulled himself together, mentally scolding himself for having let the whore get to him and losing his temper. Darker thoughts lodged themselves in his mind. He pushed them aside for the moment. Now was not the time, he'd deal with them later.

He knelt down beside Shilo and rested a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon kid. We gotta go."

Graverobbers low voice in her ear cleared the fog in her mind. She looked up at him and back to the towering inferno. "Go where?"

"One of us still has a home, remember? We'll have to go back to your place kid, at least for the night. Just til I can find us somewhere else ta stay."

A panicked look blanketed her face and she jerked around to look him in the eyes. "No! Please. Can't we go somewhere else, just for a little while longer? I'm not ready to go back yet."

He looked at her wearily. "Sorry kid. We don't have many options its that or.... well, lets just say you wouldn't like the alternative." Her eyes begged him to think of anything that would keep her from facing the demons her father had left behind for just one more day. "There's no way around it kid. Unless you're okay with staying with our badly dressed friend, we've got to go back. Besides, you can't run away forever."

Her face fell and she swallowed hard. "Okay." The single word was little more than a whisper. He took her by the hand and stood, pulling her to her feet. "How do you know that it will even still be there?" She asked

He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him. "I don't, but I hope for both our sakes that it is."

She looked at him. The vulnerability and weariness was glinting though his showman's mask again. He dropped his arm back to his side and began walking down the empty street. Shilo followed him wordlessly.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

As the streets became more familiar to her, Shilo struggled to occupy her mind. She looked at Graverobber. His mouth was set in a grim line and, though clearly sullen and unhappy, his guard was back up. The air was thick with tension and an uncomfortable silence had settled. Taking a chance, Shilo pressed herself against his side. It was the only thing she could think to do to comfort him at the moment.

He looked down at her. Though his face didn't betray him, he was somewhat surprised by her actions. For the most part she liked to keep a safe distance between them, except at night when she found solace from her nightmares in his arms. Had he been in a less stressful state, he probably would have contemplated when he should make his move on her. As it was, he merely smiled to himself and put his arm around her shoulders. They walked in silence in the dull pre-dawn light for a little while.

Shilo said nothing at first, merely snaked a pale scrawny arm around his waist and held him close as they walked. She squeezed his side gently and gathered up her courage before shattering the stillness that had settled around them. "What's your name?"

Graverobber was surprised by her question. He didn't miss a beat answering her.  
"Graverobber."

Shilo let out a sigh. "Whats your _real_ name?"

"Well then, how about Robin Graves? That has a nice ring to it don't you think?" He smirked and looked down at her.

"Forget it," she said tiredly.

"What does it matter to you kid? Why is a name so important? It's just something to call someone by, not a glimpse into their soul or anything meaningful like you want it to be. Besides, my name is probably the most honest one you'll find in this city. Graverobber... it's simple, it's truthful, it's what I am."

"I guess you're right," was all she said before letting the subject drop. She was still uneasy at the thought of going back to her fathers house. There was nothing left for her there except the ghosts of the past and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to face them yet. She made another attempt to strike up a conversation with Graverobber to keep her mind off of her father and the lies he had told her. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live."

"But the fire...."

"I have everything that's important," he interrupted. "I wouldn't a stayed there much longer anyway. It was time for me to find somewhere else to set up camp, I just wasn't expecting it to be tonight. I never stay in one place for very long, Amber knew that. She just wanted to screw me over to show me she means business, inconvenience me a little. I'll find a new place as soon as I can, I promise."

Shilo smiled weakly. "Thank you. I'm still sorry about tonight though. I feel like none of this would have happened if it weren't for me. Maybe you should go after tonight. I'll be okay I guess, but... bad things happen to people when they get close to me."

"Forget it kid. I'm stuck with you now," he said perhaps a bit too bluntly. "Just because you're with me doesn't mean anything bad's gonna happen. Amber woulda fucked with me anyway. It was inevitable, she's on a power trip now." He didn't bother to tell Shilo that she had only made things worse. She didn't need to know that.

"But... if it weren't for me my mom would still be alive." There was a pregnant pause before she continued. "And my dad, he wouldn't have died and Rotti wouldn't have been able to make him be a Repo Man. Maybe Mag would have been better off without me too. I think you're better off if you go."

"I'll decide what's best for me. None of that shit was your fault and you need to stop blaming yourself for it. If Rotti hadn't been such an unstable bastard in the first place your parents and Mag would be fine and his kids wouldn't be the psychopathic fucks they are." He pushed open the gate and walked up the front steps stopping in front of the door.

Without even realizing she was doing it, Shilo tiptoed up the walk as though she were still afraid that her father would catch her wandering around outside unprotected. The house loomed over her, a giant full of secrets and nightmares. The porch creaked under her slight weight. She felt so small standing there, so helpless.

Graverobber tried the doorknob and was satisfied to find that it was still locked from his last excursion. He dug around in his pocket and curled his fingers around a small leather case. He pulled it out and opened it to reveal a few simple lock picks and went to work. After a few seconds he replaced the tools in the case and placed it back in his pocket before swinging the door open and making a slight bow as he gestured Shilo inside.

Shilo stepped inside with the air of a condemned prisoner being led to the gallows. Holographic portraits of her mother stared at her lifelessly from the walls. She could almost seem to hear them the way her father must have. They seemed to speak in her mind. Some praised the young woman that she was growing into and begged her to chase her dreams, others sang warnings of her father and accused him of heinous deeds. Over the voices in her head purred a louder masculine voice. "Forgive and forget kid. Forgive him for the crimes he committed against you and your mother, he was only trying to keep you safe. He tried to save her too, don't forget that. Forget what he did as the Repo Man, it wasn't his choice. Remember him as the father that loved you more than anything."

Graverobber spoke low and quiet into her ear. She looked over at him. "C'mon kid. Now isn't the right time to deal with this. I'll help you through it in the morning but right now it's been a long hard night and its time to get some rest." Shilo made no attempt to move. Graverobber bent down and picked her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs to her room. She clung to him until he pushed aside the plastic curtains and set her gently on the bed. She sat herself up as he made for the door.

"Wait!"

"What is it kid?"

"Aren't you gonna stay?"

"It's ok kid, I can grab a bed in another room, or even the couch. I'm not picky." He smiled and bowed and reached for the doorknob.

"But..." she stopped. "I've gotten kinda used to having you around. I don't have as many nightmares when you're holding me. Besides, I'm not sure I'm ready to be here yet... alone."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise and gave her a cocky grin. "As you wish." He gave her another little bow and returned to Shilo's bedside. As he removed his boots Shilo kicked off her own and set her bag next to the bed and slid under the covers. Graverobber bunched up the sickening tee shirt and tossed it in the trash. He'd get rid of the pants in the morning, for now, he was too tired and still aching to care. He settled back onto the bed next to Shilo and rested a hand gently on her hip.

He looked at her for a moment. She wasn't just beautiful, she was quite possibly the last natural beauty in his world. Now that he could finally stop running and relax the night was beginning to take its toll. His eyes grew heavy and just as he was on the verge of sleep Shilo's voice echoed through his mind. "Graverobber, will you tell me a story?"

"A story?"

"Yeah. Sometimes when I was little my dad would tell me a story when I couldn't sleep."

"What kind of story?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "any kind I guess."

"You want a fairy tale or a true story?"

"How bout a true story? Maybe one about you?" She asked hopefully.

" A me story? Hmm... lemmie see." He thought about it for a minute and then began. _"Once upon a time there was a young Graverobber and he made the mistake of catching the eye of the Kingdoms Princess, Amber. Now, the young Graverobber didn't know that he'd caught her eye and because of that he did some foolish things. One day he decided to visit the castle and Robin-Hood some of the Kings gold. All would have been fine if the Princess hadn't been watching him and sent her brothers, the two psychotic, creepy princes of the realm, after him."_

"Uh huh," Shilo said incredulously.

"Well if you're gonna be like that, kid...."

"Nonono... go on."

_"Well, the idiot young Graverobber ducked..." _His voice trailed off as he remembered that day and looked at Shilo who was listening eagerly.

"So the young dumb Graverobber ducked aaaaaand?"

"Ya loved that I added that didn'tcha kid?"

"Just a lil."

_"Well the foolish young Graverobber ducked into the nearest room and came face to face with the queen and her maiden, both of whom were much more fair and beautiful by far than the kingdoms princess and nearly as captive as criminals." _Shilo tilted her head to the side, slightly confused, but Graverobber continued his story without pause. _"The brown haired queen hid her giggles behind her hand and turned to her maiden. "We seem to have company," She said to her companion. "Who is it?" Asked her blind companion. "It seems to be that roguish Graverobber that the Princess speaks of so often." The dark haired maiden smiled. "Is he really as handsome as the Princess claims?" She asked. "He is," the queen said._

Shilo giggled a little. "What? You don't think that I'm handsome?" Graverobber asked her.

She smiled, "I never said that. I just think that you're a little full of yourself sometimes...You are handsome though," She added in a whisper which he only smiled at and pretended not to hear.

"Anyway.... _"Have you gotten yourself into some trouble Mr. Graverobber?" The queen asked as the prince screamed in the hall. "Not too much trouble, ladies," he said. "You might want to stay in here until the prince has calmed himself with the GENtel ladies," the raven haired maiden said. "Might be wise," the Graverobber agreed. "Might I know who such beautiful and kind ladies as yourselves are?" The Graverobber asked. "I'm the kings fiancée, and this is my lady in waiting." The queen told him as she offered the Graverobber a chair and a tray of pastries." "I believe I've seen your friend singing on the holoscreens," the Graverobber said, "and you too if I'm not mistaken. But screens and speakers don't do either of you justice, If I may say." "Such a flattering rogue we have here Mag." "We should be frightened Marni, to be sitting with such a hardened criminal and be so defenseless." _

Shilo let out a sharp gasp. _Could it be true? _She wondered. _Did he really meet my mom... and Mag?_

The look of silent shock on Shilo's face did not escape Graverobber's notice. He would be a damned poor criminal if he failed to notice something that obvious. "You asked for a true story kid, and thats what I'm giving you." He continued his story.

_"I wouldn't harm a pair of true princesses such as yourselves," the Graverobber assured them. __"And you're far from defenseless. All the two of you have to do is smile just right and you could send even the worst criminal crashing to his knees." Eventually the princes gave up their search and the princess grew bored and the queen and her maiden were able to help the poor young Graverobber escape."_

"And that," Graverobber said, "is the story of how I met your mother, and Blind Mag. Your mother was a good woman kid, real sweet, her and Mag both."

Shilo swallowed hard, a lump began to form in her throat. "I know. I mean... its what my father always told me. And I knew Mag was... even if I didn't _really_ know her for very long."

"I saw yer mom a couple times after that, once after yer mom and dad were married and she was pregnant with you. She was prouda you already kid, said she knew you'd go on and do great things. You remind me a her kid, sweet and beautiful, and real." He paused and took a good hard look at her. "Tell you what though, yer even prettier than she was. I saw Mag too over the years. I tried to get her to come with me, get her outta GeneCo, but she wouldn't leave. I guess you could say I had a bit of a crush on her... once upon a time. You remind me of her. She had a strong will right up to the end, you saw that. Wouldn't let some Repo Man take her out, did things her own way, got out in the end. It's a shame it ended the way it did for 'er. You got that same strong will, I can tell. I saw it that first night. That's why I won't leave ya high and dry kid, GeneCo's ruined the lives of too many good women already. Now, get some sleep, it's been a tough night on us both." With that he placed a chaste kiss on Shilo's forehead and closed his eyes.

Shilo blinked the moisture out of her eyes. It touched her to finally hear something about her mother, not from her guilt stricken father or the envious Rotti Largo, but a man that had no reason to lie to her, and nothing to gain if he did. She smiled weakly and curled up in Graverobbers arms.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Shilo woke to Graverobber tossing and turning in his sleep. She eyed him worriedly before finally reaching out and shaking him gently by the shoulder. He sat up with a start. After quickly taking stock of where he was and who he was with, he dropped back onto the pillows and stared tiredly at the canopy. "Are you okay Graverobber?" Shilo asked him. There was marked concern in her voice.

He stretched a bit, working out a couple of the kinks that had embedded themselves in his muscles. "I'm fine."

She regarded him closely. "Is there something wrong? Is it too warm in here? I could open a window for you, or if theres something that I could do to make you more comfortable....."

"Ya don't gotta do anythin' kid. I'm fine... really. Just not used to sleepin' in a real bed that's all." Shilo still didn't look convinced. "Come 'ere and lay down with me. I promise you I'll sleep good til the morning this time."

Shilo let out a drowsy giggle. "Technically it is morning. The curtains are just closed."

He gave her a lopsided smile. "You always gotta be a smartass huh? C'mon, its time to rest now." Shilo lay down beside him, twined an arm around his waist, and rested her head on his chest. He drew her body closer to his and petted her hair. "Goodnight kid." Before long they both drifted into a deep and well deserved sleep.

The next time Shilo awoke the clock on her bedside table read 3:37pm. She sat up slowly so as not to wake Graverobber. It didn't work. He drowsily cracked open one eye and, seeing that it was only Shilo, settled back into a dreamless sleep. Shilo waited for his breathing to become deep and even again before she made her way quietly down the stairs the way she used to when she would sneak out to visit her mothers tomb. She found her way into the kitchen and began opening and closing cupboards looking for something that she could make to surprise Graverobber. Unfortunately, the kitchen cupboards yielded nothing helpful and all she found in the refrigerator was a bit of spoiled milk,some cheese, and a few pieces of fruit and vegetables.

Shilo frowned. The man asleep in her room didn't strike her as a fruit person, and although she didn't actually know how to cook she was sure that it couldn't be that hard and she wanted to do it. She wanted to do something, no matter how small, for the man that had helped her so much in such a short amount of time. She frowned at the lack of decent food left in the house and decided that if she were to cook anything at all it meant first going out and buying what she'd need. That brought her to her second dilemma, where would she find credits to go shopping?

She looked over what the kitchen and pantry and took stock of what she had to work with. There was a half a box of pancake mix, some cereal, a few useless baking goods, a bottle of vegetable oil and some dry pasta. She looked at the pancake mix box. All she would need for that is some water so it wouldn't pose a problem; still, she wanted to offer something more substantial than a plate of pancakes that didn't even have syrup.

She crept back upstairs and stood silently in front of her father's room. She swallowed hard and placed her palm on the door. She hesitated before turning the knob and slowly pushing the heavy door open. The room was shrouded in shadows, much like the man that'd lived there. Holograms that glowed as brightly as Zydrate hung on every wall. The curtains were drawn over the lone window denying entry to what little light showed through the eternally gray skies above the city.

She fumbled around on the bedside table and switched on the lamp, faintly illuminating the dreary room. Everything here was dark and depressing. Everything seemed bathed in muted dull tones. Black and gray and deep blood reds mingled in the wallpaper. The bedsheets were dark gray and the curtains that hung from the windows and shrouded the bed were thick black damask. Wandering around in her fathers private room, Shilo couldn't help but notice how like a tomb it was, dark and dreary with an inescapable air of sadness.

She felt like every portrait were staring at her, silently scolding her for invading such a personal space. She shivered in discomfort and set to the task at hand. She slid open the drawer on the nightstand looking for a few loose credits or a credit pass, anything she could use to buy a few supplies. She pushed aside stacks of envelopes and photographs, but there was nothing to be found. She moved to the dresser that stood on one wall. There were a few random credits strewn on the top and, luckily for her, her father's wallet sat there among the framed pictures of her parents wedding and pictures of her as a child. The photos were a small reminder of the broken family that, had circumstances been different, they might once have been.

The feelings of intrusion and discomfort in Shilo grew and bile rose up in her throat. Graverobber's weak attempt at shifting the blame for her fathers death off of her shoulders hadn't worked and it rose up again and overwhelmed her. She grabbed the wallet and they stray credits and fled from the room slamming the door behind her. She clenched her eyes shut and counted backwards from ten to clam her nerves. She sat down at the dining room table and emptied the wallet. Just as she'd hoped, there were a couple credit passes. One bore the GeneCo mark, and Shilo assumed that it would probably have been canceled upon death. All together, she counted about fifteen credits and two credit passes with an unknown balance. Shilo stuffed the credits and passes in her pocket and headed out the door.

Shilo walked uncertainly down the street, not quite sure where she was going. She wrapped her arms around herself and walked, barely taking her eyes off the pavement beneath her feet. She strode on briskly until she reached the edge of the city and paused to scan the area for a grocery store. She found what she'd been looking for and hurried across the street to the market place beyond. She took her time in the store, carefully going over everything that it offered.

She was amazed at the variety of foods laid out before her. There were entire isles of things she had only ever seen on tv. There was an entire section dedicated to foods from other countries, isles full of candy and pastries and snacks that her father would never have allowed her to eat. He'd allowed her all the Caro Brand Cookies she could eat, though she'd usually left the plate nearly untouched, and he'd always made her a cake on her birthday, a carrot cake. And she'd lived on candy bars until Graverobber had found her; but, cotton candy, potato chips, snack food cakes, ice cream, they were all foreign to her.

She looked longingly over the mountains of junk food and soda, and sugared juices and thought about the money in her pocket. She wasn't sure if she had enough money to buy what she needed, and with one last glance, tore herself away from the sweets. She wandered over to the dairy center and picked out a half gallon of milk. She made her way down the isle and found a carton of eggs placed it in her basket as well. She wasn't sure what else Graverobber might want, but she figured that he might like some toast and would almost assuredly want either bacon or sausage at the very least.

She put a small loaf of bread in the basket and a tub of butter and made her way to the meat counter. She looked over the packages of bacon and sausage full of confusion. There was turkey bacon, regular bacon, microwave bacon, and smoked bacon, and the options were no better with the sausage. Unsure of which was best or what Graverobber would prefer, she picked up a package of bacon and a package of breakfast sausage at random and added them to her growing basket of goods.

She made her way down the isle of junk food one last time and eyed a package of cream filled chocolate cookies. She looked at her basket and appraised her purchases. She didn't have much, and she figured that she probably had enough money for one more item. After a quick moment of thought she plucked the bag of cookies off the shelf. She plunked down her items at the register and paid. It was slightly more than she'd expected and she handed them the small handful of credits in her pocket and one of the passes. The cashier scanned it and handed it back to her. Shilo stuffed it back in her pocket and grabbed her bags and left.

********

Graverobber woke up and stretched out. Shilo hadn't laid back down with him and as he looked around he noticed she wasn't still in the room either. He wondered vaguely where she'd gone but didn't dwell on it. She had a lot of coping to do with this place and the sooner she got it over with the better. He got up and stepped into the bathroom, splashed some cold water on his face and took care of business.

His knuckles were bruised an ugly purple-red and blood had dried where the brick had scraped him. He flexed his hand, it ached but he would live. He went back to the room and dropped his borrowed trousers on the floor and dug his pants out of Shilo's bag. He tugged them on and zipped up his boots before going downstairs to look for Shilo.

As he descended the stairs, he noted that she wasn't in foyer. He took the hallway to Nathan's study, nothing, the parlor, no Shilo. He was beginning to get anxious when she wasn't in the dining room or the kitchen. He was in panic mode as he flew up the stairs and began tearing open doors to long empty rooms. There was a light on in one of them. Shilo had been there. He quickly realized that it was the Repo's bedroom. The pictures of Marni cluttering the walls were evidence of that. He hoped that the stress of being back among her father's things had sent Shilo seeking fresh air. He went back to their room, _when had it become theirs?, _and pulled his coat out of the bag and headed downstairs toward the door.

Shilo was nowhere to be found in the yard. His chest constricted with fear and worry. Where was she? Why did she go off without telling him. He took off down the street determined to find Shilo, promising himself that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.

**********

Shilo walked down the street, bags heavy in her arms. She let her mind wander on trivial things as she hurried home. She hadn't been eating right lately. Even though Graverobber had made sure to bring her food, there hadn't been a day recently when she'd eaten much more than a single meal. Even then, food had nearly always consisted of sandwiches with the exception of last night. The bags weighed her down and made her arms hurt. She felt weak and somewhat sick. _I probably should have waited for Graverobber, _she thought. It was too late for that now though. She would just have to suck it up and get the stuff home. She could rest when she got there.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Her eyes were glued to the sidewalk and she walked right into him. She looked up into the strangers face and stammered an apology and began to walk around him. He grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her. "Where's a sweet little girl like you going all by yerself huh?" he asked.

"I-I'm just going...." her voice trailed off as he interrupted her.

"You're a pretty little thing, ya know that?" He had a hungry glint in his eyes, one that she'd seen in Graverobbers face on enough occasions to know what it meant. Luckily for her, Graverobber had always controlled the inner hunger. Shilo doubted the man before her now would show her as much respect.

"I really should get home," she tried to sidestep him once more, but he stepped in front of her. Her eyes darted around frantically looking for someone who would help her. There was no one. The streets were empty.

He circled around her, like a shark would a fish. She tried to run, but her grabbed her from behind pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her off the ground. She dropped her bags and tried to scream but he clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her into an alley. Shilo was frantic. She tried to scream but all that came out were muffled whimpers. The man forced her up against the wall. "Calm down little girl. Don't gotta be afraid a me, I'm gonna make ya smile." He said in her ear as he unbuckled his belt. "I'll be real good ta ya."

He gave her a sickening smile as his fingers started working the buttons on her blouse. He took his hand off of her mouth and his lips crashed over hers. Tears streamed from her eyes and she struggled as hard as she could as as he forced his slimy tongue into her mouth. She managed to bring her knee up and caught him in the groin. He pulled back sharply and sneered at her. His grip tightened and he clasped his hand back over her mouth. Anger flared in his eyes. "That was the wrong move ya little bitch," he hissed through clenched teeth. "I was gonna go easy on you but now I guess I'm gonna have to teach you some respect."

He tore at her blouse, popping the buttons off and ripping it open, exposing the small lace covered breasts beneath. He worked at the zipper of his pants. Shilo pressed herself against the wall behind her as hard as she could wishing she could sink into it. She clenched her eyes shut and waited for it to be over as she felt his hand creep up her thigh, pushing her skirt out of the way. She held her breath and waited. She waited to feel him tear the thin barrier of her panties away, waited to feel him push his way inside her. She waited for him to do his worst and be finished with it so that she could run home and bury herself in Graverobber's arms and cry.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Shilo waited, but it never came. Just as the man was about to rip away the last of Shilo's innocence, he was wrenched backwards by the shirt collar. Shilo peeked fearfully from beneath her lashes to see Graverobber swing the man that had accosted her into the wall opposite where she now stood disheveled and sobbing. Shilo quickly regained enough control of her wits to pull her tattered shirt closed and sink to the ground. She sat there with her knees drawn to her chest and continued to weep.

*********

Graverobber was furious. He found it hard to control his temper as he alternated between slamming the man's skull into the wall and bloodying his face with his fist. He'd caught him by such surprise that the man hadn't even had a chance to put up a fight. He grabbed at Graverobber's coat without much luck as Graverobber pulled him back again and landed a punch to his jaw, splitting his lip and causing a thin line of bloody spittle to drip from the corner of his mouth. Graverobber pushed him away in disgust. The man stumbled back and fell to the ground. Graverobber gave him a few swift kicks to the stomach and ribs. He could feel bones crunch as they met with the steel toe of his boots,but Graverobber didn't much care. The man was lying at his feet, curled in the fetal position, barely conscious. Graverobber gave him one last hard kick to the groin.

Shilo's would be attacker drew his knees up to his chest and lay motionless. His face was a mask of agony and he could only whimper as blood seeped from the gashes in his scalp and face. Graverobber nudged him with the toe of his boot and he rolled onto his back. He stepped on the man's throat causing him to gag and grab at the boot crushing his windpipe. Graverobber looked down at the man beneath his foot. "You're lucky I don't put you out of your misery you waste of fucking sperm. Don't fuck with whats mine." He gave the man one last sharp kick in the side and left him sputtering and coughing up blood as he went to check on Shilo.

She was holding her shirt closed and sobbing. He crouched beside her tiny terrified form and lifted her chin up to look her over quickly. She blinked the tears away and looked at him briefly before throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. As gently as he could, he pried her arms from his neck and pulled the coat off his back and wrapped her tightly in it. He'd wanted to see her in the underwear he'd picked out for her, but not under these circumstances. He lifted her up in his arms and carried her out of the alley.

She sniffled and stopped him as he started toward home, pointing to the bags of toppled groceries on the sidewalk. Without argument, Graverobber set her down as he gathered the spilled items back into their plastic sacks and hung them over his arm before picking her back up and carrying her home.

He was quiet as he held her close to him and walked her home as fast as he could. He didn't like letting his anger show, he liked it even less when Shilo was there to witness it, but what he'd done had been well beyond justified. Graverobber had never considered himself to be a particularly good man, but he'd prided himself on being a moral man. There were levels that even he wouldn't stoop to. Murder and rape were at the top of his list. He'd seduced his share of women, mostly young girls aching for glow that still had enough of a head on their shoulders to be hesitant about selling their bodies for a fix. In the end though, it had always been their choice. They either walked or gave themselves over, but not once had he ever backed a woman into a corner and given her no choice in the matter. Right now he wished that his conscience would have allowed him to finish the poor excuse for a human being that he'd left writhing on the ground behind them. Still, even if he could, he didn't think he could do it with Shilo watching. She'd had enough of seeing men turn into murderers. The last thing he wanted to do was show her that he was no different. He knew in his heart that he was. He was no murderer, and he hoped that Shilo could see that.

He set the bags on the dining room table and brought Shilo up to her room and laid her out carefully on the bed. Her sobs had subsided and she'd calmed down considerably. He brushed a few disheveled strands of hair from her face and looked into her eyes. He found it difficult to voice the words he knew he had to ask. "Are you ok Shilo? Did he..." Graverobber's voice trailed off and he broke eye contact. The words stuck in his throat. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. He cared about her; he hadn't felt that way about anyone in a long time. To him she was purity and innocence and natural and he secretly hoped that nothing had happened to mar that. It was selfish, and had an air of perverseness about it, but if anyone were to spoil the purity of something he loved so much, he wanted it to be him.

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Did he touch you? Was I too late?" Shilo sniffled again and shook her head. Graverobber breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked whatever deities that might still exist in this godsforsaken world for that small favor. He held her close and stroked her hair. "You scared me to death."

Shilo gave him an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry Graverobber. How did you find me?"

"I got worried when I saw that you were gone so I went looking for you. I figured maybe coming back was too much for you and you went fer a walk ta clear your head." His tone became sterner. "It was pure luck that I found you kid. Don't scare me like that again. I don't want you leaving without me, no matter what, promise me."

"I'm sorry Graverobber," she apologized. "I promise I won't. It's just, you've done so much for me that I just wanted to do something for you. I was just going to get some food at the store and come back and make you breakfast."

Graverobber smiled. "Thanks kid, but you don't gotta do anythin' special fer me." The tension had begun to ease rather quickly and for that he was thankful. He took a good look at her, glad that he'd shown up in time. His coat was twisted on her frame and her torn blouse hung open revealing far more than was appropriate at a time like this. He ignored the ache that sprung up inside him at the sight of it and he shifted the coat to cover her. "Why don't you take a nice hot bath and I'll see if I can salvage breakfast?" He smiled and Shilo smiled shyly back. In truth, she'd feel a lot better after she washed the feeling of that creeps hands from her body.

Graverobber disappeared into the bathroom. Shilo could hear the water splash into the tub as he turned the faucet on. She'd started to get up and slipped out of his coat as she stood. A wave of shame and disgust washed over her as she looked down and remembered her torn shirt. Her face flushed and she held the loose fabric together covering the mostly bare flesh beneath. Graverobber walked back into the room as Shilo tried to steady herself. It was no easy feat. Her arms and legs still shook from her earlier shock. Graverobber scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

He set her down on the edge of the tub and lifted her chin til she looked him in the eyes. She wanted to avoid his gaze. She felt dirty and undeserving of his kindness. Deep down she knew that nothing that had happened had been her fault and that Graverobber wasn't disgusted with her as she was with herself. Still, her gaze was unfocused and her mind far away. "You can trust me kid, okay? I'm not gonna do anything to you that you don't want me to, that's not the kinda man I am. I need ya ta believe that. Do you trust me?" Shilo nodded shyly.

Graverobber took her nod of approval and gave her a quick hug. He pulled off her boots and stockings and set them aside before sliding the remnants of her shirt from her shoulders; she shuddered beneath his touch. He threw the tattered cream colored rag in the waste bin and looked over her briefly. There were the beginnings of bruises on her arms. He traced a calloused thumb gently over them wondering to himself if they were from today or last night. He could see the beginnings of self hatred flicker to life in eyes. He swallowed hard and kissed her forehead as he unclasped her bra and slipped it off. His body screamed at him to look at her, feel her, love her, but he overrode his baser instincts and kept his attention focused on her face. Without even realizing it, she brought her arms up to cover herself.

Graverobber stood up and took her by the hand, pulling her gently to her feet, ever ready to catch her should she fall. Satisfied that she wasn't going to collapse, he unzipped the tiny skirt that he now cursed himself for picking out and let it slide to the floor. There were more small bruises on her thighs, just the size of a man's fingertips. He bit the inside of his cheek as he slid her panties to the floor while returning his gaze to her face. Her cheeks were flushed pink with embarrassment. Though he'd told her that she could trust him, he could still see a hint of distrust in her eyes. He lifted her up and set her gently into the warm water. He gave her a final quick once over. "Take your time, come down when you're ready. I'll see what I can do about breakfast." He started to leave. "And kid," she looked up at him, "you're still beautiful, still perfect. Don't let what happened today make you feel any diff'rent." With that he pulled the door closed and left her.

Shilo sank down into the water and let it soothe her nerves. She tried closing her eyes and relaxing, but flashes of the attack played themselves over and over in her mind. She thought of Graverobber. He'd had her at her most vulnerable. She'd stood before him just now naked and ashamed and he hadn't made a single move on her, not that that'd disappointed her. In actuality it had helped cement her trust in him. Much to her surprise, she found herself thinking about the attack but, instead of the strange mans rough touch, she imagined Graverobber's gentle hands caressing her, soothing her. She felt the tension ebb as she scrubbed the traumatic event away.

**************

Graverobber pulled on his shirt before going downstairs to dig through the bags of groceries to see what Shilo'd gotten. He pulled out the carton of eggs and inspected them. Luckily the fall hadn't done as much damage as he would've thought. There were five with cracked shells, but he could salvage them. The bread was slightly squashed, and he was pretty sure that at least some of the cookies had been reduced to crumbs, but overall, the food had remained intact... just like her. He clenched his jaw at the thought.

He rummaged through the cupboards until he found a couple of frying pans, some plates, and a bowl. He put them on the counter and sifted through a couple of drawers. He found the silverware and plucked out three forks. A spoon, and a couple of knives. He set two of the plates on opposite sides of the small kitchen table and arranged forks and knives beside them.

He placed the larger of the two frying pans on the stove and turned the burner on medium. While the pan warmed up he used the knife to open up the bacon, he paused, turkey bacon. _Leave it to a shut-in to grab possibly the worst impostor to the food world since tofu,_ he snickered to himself. He forked the bacon into the pan before dropping in a fair amount of breakfast sausage in as well. He let the meat sizzle until it was well browned and beginning to crisp before he put on the smaller pan and heated it while cracking open the already damaged eggs into a bowl and adding some milk before beating the mixture. He was about to pour the eggs into the pan when he remembered the cheese in the fridge. He pulled out the bag of shredded cheese and looked it over. As far as he could tell it wasn't moldy and it tasted just fine to him so he added a few handfuls before dumping the eggs in the pan and scrambling them with the spoon.

He prodded the sausages and flipped the bacon, not entirely sure what fried turkey was supposed to look like, before being satisfied that it was done and forking it onto a plate. It wasn't long before the eggs were done too and he turned off the stove and moved the pan to a cold burner. He scooped a pile onto his plate and added a few links of sausage and a couple strips of the impostor bacon and sat down to eat. He lifted a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth when he fixated on the squat three arm candelabra in the center of the table.

He set his fork down and headed back to Shilo's room. He peeked cautiously in, making sure that she was still in the tub or at the very least not in the middle of getting dressed. When he didn't see her he walked to the bed where she'd slipped off his coat. He dug through an inner pocket and fished out a lighter. He stuck it into the pocket of his pants and went over to the bathroom door. He knocked softly.

Shilo looked up at the sound of a knock. She expected to see Graverobber stick his head in the room, but he didn't. "You okay?" His voice was quiet and muffled by the door, but he'd been loud enough for her to hear.

"I'm fine," she called out. And honestly, she was. It was comforting to her that he was giving her some space and privacy. She knew that everything he'd done up to this point had been his way of being a gentleman, letting her take her time.

"Just thought I'd check in on you," he replied. "I got some food ready if yer hungy. 'Sokay if yer not though, take yer time kid. I can always fix ya up somethin' later. I'll be downstairs if ya need me." He didn't wait for her to reply, just went back to the kitchen.

Shilo leaned her head back on the rim of the tub. Her stomach was beginning to ache and she didn't feel as filthy as she had when Graverobber had first lowered her into the steaming water. Besides, the water had begun to cool off. She took a deep breath, she was still a little rattled, but it was time to towel off and get on with her life. She'd made a mistake and it had nearly cost her, but she had learned from the experience. It wouldn't happen again, she'd make sure of that. She'd stick close to Graverobber, carry her own protection if she needed to, and she'd be less naive about the dangers of the world next time. She smiled inwardly. _Really, _she thought, _you'd think I'd already know better by now. _She pulled on a knee length petti-skirt, a black button up blouse, and tights and went downstairs to eat. As she stepped into the kitchen she was surprised by what she saw.

Graverobber sat at the small kitchen table with a brightly lit candelabra in the middle of it. He paused, fork halfway to his mouth, when he saw her framed in the entryway. Setting aside his fork, he stood up to greet her. He took her by the hand and led her to the seat opposite his. He pulled out her chair and bowed slightly. She sat down and he edged her toward the table and fixed her a plate of food. He set the plate in front of her and swept the candelabra to the side so that he could have an unobstructed view of her before sitting back down and continuing the meal.

Shilo ate slowly. Taking a bite of the bacon, she made an amusingly funny face. Graverobber couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. Shilo, quietly pushed the crisp strips to the side of her plate. "What's the matter kid, dontcha like it?"

The look on her face said I've been found out. "Wha- no. Everything's great. I didn't know you knew how to cook."

She tried to skate around the question, but he was onto her. "A man learns a thing or two about how to feed himself when he's on his own, well, if he wants to eat decently at least once in a while anyway. But ya can't hide yer feelings from me kid. You don't like like it do you?"

"Honestly I do... just not that," she said pointing to the bacon.

"I don't blame ya kid. Bacon's sposed ta come from pigs, not turkey's." He plucked the shriveled

strips of her plate and munched on them. He swallowed, "still, living on the street you learn to appreciate almost anything." He smiled at her and they continued their meal in peace.

It was... almost... romantic, Shilo reflected. It didn't take long for Graverobber to finish and he began to load the empty dishes into the sink and wash them. Shilo brought her empty plate and silverware over to the sink and dropped them in. She attempted to take the sponge from Graverobber, but he wouldn't let her. "Go lie down, read a book, whatever you want. I'll take care of things here."

Shilo was a bit disappointed but did as she was told. She slunk away to her bedroom and picked a book from one of her shelves and sat on the bed to read. The book was one of her favorites, well worn and well read. The gilded lettering on the worn leather binding could just be made out, The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps on the stairs and her door creaked open just enough for Graverobber to poke his head through. Shilo closed the book, keeping her finger between the pages to keep from losing her place.

Graverobber let himself in and glanced at the book in her hand. "I dwelt alone in a world of moan, And my soul was a stagnant tide, Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride," he recited.

Shilo looked shocked. "You know Poe?" The question was filled with a pleasant curiosity.

"Not everyone in this godsforsaken city is obsessed with genetic perfection, my dear. Some people, even the lowliest street urchin and the self professed god of glow, are still cultured enough to enjoy the classics. It's refreshing to actually meet someone else with some class and a mind." Shilo felt her cheeks grow warm, but Graverobber seemed not to notice.

Shilo contemplated him for a minute, studying him in a way she hadn't before; curious to know what other secrets she had yet to discover. "What else do you like?" She asked curiously.

He ran his fingers over the books on one of her shelves and inspected the beetles and butterflies in their glass tombs. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." he tossed a sly smile her way.

"As You Like It." She said

Graverobber raised an eyebrow. "Girl knows her Shakespeare," he said aloud to no one in particular. He thought for a moment. "Surgeons must be very careful when they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions stirs the culprit,- life!"

Shilo wrinkled her brow in thought and soon gave up. "I've never heard that one before, who is it?"

Graverobber grinned, happy to have stumped her. "Emily Dickenson. I'm surprised you've never read her before, I think you'd like her." He wandered over to Shilo and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Alright kid," he said tenderly, "I gotta go out tonight. We don't exactly have a whole lotta food and the funds are runnin low from last night." Most of that statement was true. But what only Graverobber knew was that they had plenty of money. You didn't live like a pauper when you were the Zydrate King and not have at least a little money. Still, it didn't matter much if there was money or not. He'd grown used to a certain lifestyle and no matter what his feelings for Shilo were, he had to stay true to himself. He had to go out; he had to walk that line between right and wrong. It wouldn't work to try and force himself to be a "family man" so to speak. He would never be accustomed to living the life that Shilo was used to; a life with a home and family and the feeling that you're safe. Even though he understood that they could never have a conventional life, he could no longer deny the twisted romance that was brewing. He'd stopped accepting sex as payment and he'd grown used holding Shilo in his arms when she thought he was asleep. She was the poison in the well of his mind, but he couldn't pull away from her even if she was going to be his downfall.

Shilo attempted to protest but Graverobber pressed a finger to her lips and silenced her. "Shhhhh. I have to go. You know how it works. I can't stay cooped up in here, it won't work. It didn't for you now did it?" Shilo's face fell and she shook her head in sullen acknowledgement. "I'll be back soon. He reached for the coat next to Shilo on the bed and extracted a folding knife from it's pocket. "I want you to lock up when I leave. I don't wanna have to worry about you. Take this," he said thrusting the knife into her hand, "I hope you don't have to use it, but I expect you to if anything else happens, okay?" Shilo nodded. Graverobber smiled again. A smile that, at face value, said we'll be fine don't worry, I'll protect you; at the same time, hidden, asked how did I ever get in this deep, I'm in over my head.

With that, Graverobber stepped into the bath room and made quick work of applying his face paint before heading downstairs. Shilo followed him. She tried to get him to take the tunnels to her mother's tomb, but he was adamant that he wouldn't be noticed even if he left out the front door. Shilo relented and closed the door behind him. The key clicked loudly in the lock against the backdrop of silence that enveloped the house. She pulled aside a curtain to watch Graverobber disappear down the walkway, but he was already gone.


	12. Chapter 12

Graverobber made quick work of the farthest cemeteries that still accepted new tenants. He stayed away from the newer ones in the hopes that he wouldn't encounter any of the problems that he had been lately. His bet paid off and he made his way in, did what he had to, and was out relatively quickly. His sales were quick and painless and before he knew it he was headed back to Shilo.

He checked the door when he got back. It was still firmly locked. He hurriedly worked his magic on the lock and let himself in. He found Shilo in the living room, lying on the couch reading a book. The cover screamed "up to no good" as did the title. It showed the bare back of a woman with her wrists in chains, the title, Narcissus in Chains. He walked silently up to the couch and snatched the book from Shilo. "Hey!"

"Well, lets see what 'classic' literature you're reading this time." He opened to the page Shilo had been on and began reading aloud. "I'd felt the strength in his hands, his arms, when he held me, but it was nothing to this. He made our bodies one body, one pounding, sweating, soaking, drenching piece of flesh." Graverobber's voice began to trail off. "I was vaguely aware that it hurt, that I was bruising and I didn't care." Graverobber closed the book and stared at it in disbelief. Then he looked at a shocked and mortified Shilo, face flushed red from embarrassment. "What the fuck is this?"

Shilo jumped from the couch and ripped the book from his hand. "It's called a romance novel!" She yelled at him and ran upstairs. Graverobber rolled his eyes and followed after her. Sometimes he wished the girl could learn to loosen up and not take him so seriously. He peeked into the room, half afraid that something would come flying at his head. He was relieved when it never came. The room was empty and the bathroom door was shut tight. Graverobber knocked. "Go away, you're such a jerk."

He sighed. At least she wasn't crying, just pouting. _I really need to lay off the jailbait. No good comes of it, just teen angst issues, _he thought. _But damn she's cute, and sexy as hell. _"Come on out kid. I was only messing around, I won't make fun of you I swear." He couldn't help himself. "Besides, if you want I can show you a few things you won't learn in any book."

There was a noise of disgust from the other side of the door. "You're such a pervert. Leave me alone, I'm getting changed."

"Changed for what?"

"Because I feel like it!" Graverobber shook his head in frustration and leaned his forehead on the cool hard wood of the door. He would never understand why women felt the need to change so often. Give him one set of clothes for a year and he was happy. A minute later the bathroom door opened, throwing off his balance and bringing him precariously close to falling. When he'd regained his composure all he could do was look at her.

Shilo stood in the doorway of the bathroom. She wore a short white nightgown; the upper top half of of which was intricate sheer lace ending in a high collar. It was embroidered around the edges, white on white and though, for the most part, it was shapeless; it barely covered her ass. Framed in the doorway with the glow of the light surrounding her she looked like an angel. The intensity with which he watched her did not go unnoticed by Shilo. "What?" She asked innocently.

"Nothing," was all he managed to say. Before he knew it he was slipping an arm around her tiny waist and caressing her cheek. The fire was rising in him now, it had been since he'd first met her and he was sick of denying it for so long. He turned on the charm. "You know kid, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're beautiful." Shilo opened her mouth to say something, but never got the words out as Graverobber's lips covered hers. Shilo was taken aback. Graverobber was careful to hold himself back just enough that he could still stop if he had to. Still, he allowed himself to enjoy it as he coaxed open her mouth and exploring it tentatively with his tongue.

Shilo wasn't sure what to do, she only knew that she didn't want the kiss to end. But all too suddenly it did and she found herself slightly disappointed that her first real kiss hadn't been anything like she'd expected it to be. All the books she'd ever read talked about hot, unbridled passion and impulsive action. What she'd just experienced was neither. It was tame. Short, sweet and to the point, but it just didn't scream I want you and I want you now like she thought it would.

Graverobber smiled at her. His make up had smudged off on her a bit, but even that didn't do much to mar her angelic presence. He looked for a sign of approval or fear, some kind of clue that would tell him how to proceed. Shilo stiffened. He wanted her so bad that it damn near hurt; but his hopes of things going the way he'd like them to fell when he noticed that slight change in body language, the shifting of her eyes, the tension settling back around her shoulders. The thought of having to wait longer tore into him, but he brushed his impulses aside. "Is everything ok kid?"

Shilo wrung her hands in front of her and avoided eye contact. She wasn't sure what to say. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just......" She couldn't finish.

"What?"

"I just always expected my first kiss to be different I guess."

Graverobber was slightly surprised, not much, but just enough. "Was it too much?" He asked with a cocky grin.

"Actually," she paused for a beat, "I kinda expected more."

Graverobber reeled as though he'd been slapped. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that in the books and the movies its always.... more... passionate? I guess? I don't know, I guess I just imagined a first kiss being more...." She was at a loss for words. "I'm sorry."

Graverobber drew back slightly. "Don't be kid. Just figured I'd take it easy with you. Didn't figure I'd be told I was a shitty kisser by a seventeen year old shut in," he said feigning offense.

"I didn't mean it," she pleaded.

"Tell ya what kid, how about I try again?" With that he pulled her roughly to him and his lips crashed down on hers. This time, there was no holding back. This, this is what Shilo had always imagined. It was hot and heavy and before long Shilo was reciprocating. As Graverobber's tongue darted into her mouth, her's darted into his, twisting, dancing, exploring. Graverobber swung her around and backed her against the wall. He pressed his body against hers.

Shilo's heart began to pound. It suddenly seemed as though the world around her had gone silent and everything was in slow motion except them. The only sounds she could hear came from them, the beat of their hearts, the quickening of her pulse, the sound of their breathing. Shilo felt like she never had before. She wasn't as innocent as she was sure her father and Graverobber saw her. She knew how to please herself, but this was different. Just kissing Graverobber made her feel something she'd never felt before. He pressed against her harder. She could swear she felt him grow harder as he began grinding himself against her. Thoughts flooded her mind. There was slight panic and fear mingled with excitement and anticipation. She knew where things were headed, and though part of her told her to run, she couldn't. She didn't want to, did she? He pulled her away from the wall, picked her up and twirled her around, lips still locked with hers.

Graverobber set her down and pulled away leaving Shilo breathless. She was dazed. Graverobber circled around her, trying to catch his breath as much as she was and enjoying just looking at her in that shapeless white nightgown imagining the things he could do to her, would do to her, once it was off. He stopped behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and bent down til his lips were barely touching her ear and whispered. "Was _that _more what you were expecting? A little more... big bad wolf?" His voice was low and sensual and his breath tickled her neck. She tried to find the words to reply and failed. Graverobber ached, but he refused to rush things. She wasn't Amber or some zoned out addict that he could enjoy being rough with. She reminded him of a doll. She looked the part too, pale and pure in doll-like dresses. She was a delicate china doll that needed to be played with gently lest it break, at least the first time.

"Do you trust me?" He whispered.

"Yes," came the weak response.

"I love you Shilo," he whispered and began to nuzzle her neck as one hand found the zipper on the back of the nightgown and slid it open. Shilo was frozen, understanding what was happening but unable to stop it; not sure she wanted it to stop. His voice sounded far away. He slid a hand into the back of her nightgown, caressing her back before coming to rest on her shoulder. She tensed. He repeated the gesture and pushed the fabric from her shoulders, slipping it down till it fell in a heap around her feet. She raised her arms instinctively to cover herself. Graverobber wrapped his own around her as he continued to nuzzle her neck. He covered her arms with his and took her hands into his own. He eased them away from her chest, down until they rested on her stomach and her bare breasts were exposed. All the while he met no resistance.

He licked a trail from the base of her neck to her earlobe. "If you want me to stop just say the word." There was a huskiness in his voice now.

Shilo could swear she felt his heart pounding as he pressed against her back. His clothes felt rough against her skin. This was it, she knew, the point of no return. She would speak now and end it or stay silent and experience what, up until now, she'd only read and experimented with by herself. A sudden realization came over her. She was sick of reading about things, sick of reading about people and places and things and never being able to experience them. She'd lived like that for seventeen long years, and now there was nothing to hold her back. No reason to say no. "Don't stop," she said, a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Are you sure? Ya know, there's a difference between don't stop," he placed his palm flat on her stomach, "and don't. Stop." He wrapped his free hand lightly around her throat and ran his thumb along her jaw. "It's called a period and I have an eraser. And once it's erased there's no going back." He gave the slightest of chuckles as he kissed her neck.

Graverobber, he could work humor into anything, but Shilo didn't mind. It helped her to relax, and maybe that's why he did it. She wasn't sure, but it didn't matter. She had made up her mind. It was time for her to do what she had dreamed of for so long. She was finally joining the living. "I'm sure."

His hand left her throat and he rested his hands on her hips. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle with you." He ran his hands up her body. He drew her closer and cupped her breast. He teased the nipple with his thumb and felt it harden beneath his touch. A shiver coursed through Shilo. Before she knew what was happening, everything stopped. His hands were no longer caressing her and suddenly he was no longer behind her to hold her up. Now he was in front of her, looking her up and down, before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her to the bed.

He had meant to lay her on the bed and continue to show her just how much he cared for her, but he ran into an unforeseen, or rather, forgotten problem. The plastic curtains around the bed ruined the quaint scenario he had imagined. Instead, he had to try and pull the curtain aside as he set her down on the soft white down comforter that covered the bed. Once she settled, waiting for him to join her, he promptly gripped the curtain in his fist and gave a sharp tug, tearing the plastic sheet off and letting it fall to the floor.

Shilo lay there, not quite sure what to do. It wasn't long before Graverobber was at her side. He looked at Shilo. Words couldn't describe her, they could only try in vain. She was that beautiful in his eyes, quite possibly the last true beauty in his world. He climbed onto the bed and positioned one leg between Shio's and kissed her deeply.

She smelled like flowers in a rainstorm. He pressed against her unconsciously. Flowers and rain. It was something he was sure he'd always associate with her. And he, he smelled of dirt and death. Though it shouldn't have been, it was comforting to Shilo. She'd grown so used to the scent that it made her feel safe... and so did he. Slowly, she raised a hand and twined it in his hair.

It was too soon when he pulled away this time, but it didn't last for long. He trailed kisses along her jaw. He licked her neck and nipped at her earlobe before continuing to rain kisses down, along her collarbone. He stopped and traced around her nipple with his tongue before taking it in his mouth and sucking it, as he gently kneaded the other. Shilo inhaled sharply and let out a breathy moan. He repeated this gesture with the other breast. They were small and round, just large enough for him to cup in his hand, but they were perfect. He continued on. He kissed the dip in her stomach, licked and nipped at her bare flesh.

Gravrobber stopped at the top hem of her panties. They were white, delicate lace covered cotton with a tiny pink ribbon. He looked up at Shilo. She was looking back at him with nervous anticipation. He gave a wicked grin and made his way slowly back up and stole a kiss. Shilo was slightly disappointed. She wanted him to touch her, to show her what she'd been missing. She wanted him to claim her as his own, but he toyed with her. He gave just enough to put her on the edge and then pulled her back. But Graverobber knew what he was doing.

He pulled out of the kiss. Shilo's arms were still wrapped around his neck and she was struggling to catch her breath. He slid a hand down, fingertips brushing lightly against Shilo's skin. He slid a finger just under the waistband of her panties and slid it teasingly from side to side. Shilo looked up at him and begged him to give her more. She arched her body, trying to get him to go farther, but every time she did he backed off. "Touch me Graverobber. Please!"

That made Graverobber smile, the cruel cheshire grin that always came out when he was enjoying her torment. He slid his hand underneath the thin fabric. He was slightly shocked to discover that she was perfectly smooth but he didn't betray his surprise. He moved slowly, first just rubbing his hand over her wet slit before rubbing her clit with the pad of his thumb. Shilo's eyes widened. Her mouth formed an O of silent surprise and she bucked her hips.

Graverobber smiled and continued to rub before slowly sliding in two fingers. Shilo gasped as his fingers moved deftly inside of her. She gasped as he hit a particularly sensitive spot that she didn't even know existed and grasped the blankets in her fists. He slipped his lithe fingers in and out, quickening his pace as she gasped and bucked her hips in time with his movements. She was getting close, practically on the verge when Graverobber stopped abruptly and slipped his fingers out from underneath her panties.

Shilo loosened her grip on the comforter and looked at Graverobber breathlessly. "Don't stop," she begged, her words little more than a whisper. Graverobber kissed the hollow of her neck, trailed along her collar bone and dragged his fingers lazily over her stomach, up between her breasts. He teased her, kissing her neck and chest while he ran his fingers gently through her hair and brushed his knuckles along her cheek even as she ached for him to touch her, to show her what it was like to finally live.

"Please Graverobber," her voice was barely audible. "Don't stop. Touch me." She took his hand in her own and attempted to guide him between her legs, but Graverobber wouldn't allow it. He wanted to savor every moment with Shilo. He wanted to show her every pleasure imaginable, even if that meant taking thing excruciatingly slow for him. He was already harder than he could ever remember being. His pants felt uncomfortably tight as his erection strained at the fabric. Still, He was Shilo's first. He knew that without even having to ask and he was going to make it as pleasurable as possible.

Shilo half sat up and pulled Graverobber down into a kiss and arched up so that the hardness between his legs ground against her, stimulating her clit. She pulled out of the kiss and looked into his eyes. They were hungry, feral, with a softness behind them that reminded her of the man that he hid even from himself. She lay there eyes locked with his as he stroked her face and slowly slid a hand down and cupped him. She squeezed him gently through his pants and rubbed the hard length. "Fuck me, Graverobber."

He could hear the need in her voice mingled with fear and uncertainty. The voice of a child. "No."

"But-" She started to argue.

He placed a finger on her lips. "I won't fuck you. Fucking is something for girls like Amber, not you. You deserve better than that. I want to make love to you." His voice was quiet, loving almost and still hoarse with desire.

Shilo quieted and let her eyes close as he kissed her again. Before she knew he was making his way down her body once more. He nipped at her flesh and licked circles around her belly button before stopping at the lacy edge of her panties for the second time. Instead of teasing his way back up her body, he spread her legs wider and kissed along her inner thighs starting near her knees and working his way up. First one leg, then the other before nuzzling the juncture between them.

Her underwear were already damp with longing as he pressed his mouth against them, teasing and tasting through the fabric. Shilo gave a slight moan. He kissed her though the cloth and gripped the waistband in his teeth and slid them down, slowly revealing the porcelain white skin beneath. He let go and pulled them the rest of the way off before bending down and laving his tongue along her slit. He loved the taste of her, pure and sweet; like honey. A chill went through her at the sensation and she shivered. He flicked his tongue playfully across her clit before delving into her sweetness once again. She gasped and clenched at the blankets. He licked at her plunging his tongue inside of her and tasting, before concentrating his efforts on her clitoris while he slipped his fingers into her again, feeling for the spot that he knew would drive her over the edge.

Shilo couldn't help herself. She had done everything that a girl could do to ease her frustrations but she had never brought herself anywhere near this kind of arousal. She tried to restrain herself, afraid that she would look foolish but she couldn't hold back. She shuddered and bucked as he sent her reeling over the edge. Graverobber kissed Shilo's stomach, as he allowed her to recover before he continued.

His kisses sent shivers up her spine like tiny sparks of electricity. After a moment, Graverobber's lips left her skin and he swung himself off the bed and stood, working to unfasten the first of his belts. Shilo sat up and tucked her legs underneath her. Graverobber looked at her. "You having second thoughts Shi? We can always stop for now." Shilo drew herself up before him.

Rather than saying anything, she pushed the coat from his shoulders and pulled the unbuckled belt from from his belt loops and dropped it next to the bed. She took the second belt and removed it quickly, tossing it with the first.

Her hands were starting to shake with apprehension as she fumbled with the button on his pants. She hoped that he couldn't see her anxiety. She slid the zipper down and freed his long hard member. She was beyond nervous. Her heart pounded in her chest and she stood up a little straighter, looking into Graverobber's eyes as confidently as she dared while she took him in her hand and began him. His eyes clouded over with lust. He wrapped a hand loosely around Shilo's and guided her motions. He let go as she steadied her rhythm, gripping him tightly.

He ran a hand through her hair. She was quiet, her face was filled with silent concentration. Graverobber, eyes heavily lidded, inclined his head to whisper in Shilo's ear. "Relax," he said. "You're perfect." A hint of the tension slid from her shoulders as he nuzzled her. Shilo steeled her courage, thinking about her next move. She took a deep breath and lowered herself in front of him. With a bit of trepidation and a glance up at Graverobber, she licked her lips and took him into her mouth.

Graverobber watched in ecstasy as Shilo's head bobbed back and forth. She was no expert, but gods she was good. Graverobber moaned. Shilo looked up at him as she continued to suck. She felt self conscious with him watching her the way she was. She pulled away so that just the tip was still in her mouth and circled it with her tongue experimentally before licking the head. Graverobber moaned louder and cupped the back of Shilo's head in his palm, urging her on. Satisfied that she was doing it right, Shilo pulled away completely and ran her tongue along the underside of his cock before swallowing him once again.

Shivers shot through Graverobber. Having Shilo touch him like this was sinful, but he'd rather go to hell for this kind of pleasure than to never have the experience. She seemed to know just what to do, how to move her tongue in circles as she sucked him and stroked his shaft. As she grew more comfortable, she quickened her pace. Her teeth lightly grazed his sensitive flesh, causing him to hiss in delight. If he let her keep going at this pace it wouldn't be long before he came. He rested a hand on Shilo's shoulder and pulled gently away. He pulled her to her feet.

Shilo was unsure what was going on. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked worriedly.

Graverobber smiled at her and rubbed her neck. "No kid. You're damn good, but things'll end a lot faster than I'd like if you keep that up."

The corners of Shilo's mouth curled up ever so slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips. Graverobber picked Shilo up and lay her back on the bed. He knelt between her legs once more and lapped at the juices pooling there, before crawling up her quivering body and kissing her, pressing his erection firmly against her pubic mound. She squirmed unconsciously beneath him, making him grow until he ached to plunge himself into her.

Shilo wiggled, beneath him, rubbing herself on his hard swollen length. Graverobber lifted himself slightly and Shilo moved so that the tip of his cock rubbed against the slick lips of her cunt. She moved to pull him toward her, forcing him inside, but he pulled back. Shilo's brow knitted in confusion. "This is your first time right?"

Shilo looked shocked at the question. "Uh, yeah, I-I mean," Shilo floundered.

Graverobber put a finger to her lips. "It might hurt a little. Just relax, I'll go easy with you." Shilo swallowed hard and nodded. Graverobber rubbed the head of his cock on her wet nether lips before pushing into her hot wet sheath. Graverobber had never been with a virgin before but he kept his thrusts slow and shallow at first and deepened until he broke through her threshold in one fluid motion. Her fingers dug into his shoulders through his shirt and she winced as he took her virginity. The sting didn't last long and she relaxed her grip.

Graverobber moaned as he felt Shilo give way to him. Her fingers stabbed pleasantly into his back for a second but the pressure quickly dissipated. He kept a steady rhythm, pumping in and out of her, mindful not to move too hard or fast before she was ready. She was tight and hot. Before long Shilo was panting beneath him. His thrusts became deeper. He pushed into her harder. Sweat beaded on his brow. He stopped and pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside.

Graverobber worked an arm around Shilo's waist and rolled over so that she was straddling his hips. He gripped her hips and guided her through the motions. It didn't take long before she was rocking her hips against his, impaling herself on him. Shilo was quiet, Graverobber observed, but that was fine by him, he wasn't much for sex talk. He could tell that she was enjoying herself by her half lidded eyes and her breathy moans. He was getting close, he was going to cum. He sat up and twined his arms around Shilo. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He lifted her up and knelt, still inside of her, still lost in bliss before lying her back on the bed. "Cum for me little girl," he growled deep in his throat. Shilo spasmed as her climax rocked through her. She tightened around him as she came, pushing him nearly to the brink. He thrusted a few more times before he pulled out and let out a primitive groan as he came.

His hot seed pooled in the dips of her stomach. Graverobber leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before arranging himself back in his pants and going to the bathroom to get a cloth. Shilo lay there unsure of what to do, feeling somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassed and euphoric all at once. She touched the semen that clung to her skin. It was still warm and clung to her fingers; a sticky mess. She wiped her hand on the blanket as Graverobber waltzed back into the room. He flopped onto the bed and lay on his side gently wiping away the traces of his conquest. He tossed the dirty towel into a corner and flopped exhaustedly next to Shilo on the bed. He draped an arm lazily across her and kissed her shoulder. Shilo looked at him, afraid to speak. His eyes met hers. "Was it what you expected kid? Was it worth it." Though he would never admit it, even to himself, he hoped she wouldn't regret it later.

"Yes. Thank you Graverobber, for showing me everything."

With that she drew closer to him and curled up in his arms as they slept.


End file.
